Ron Weasley and the Philosopher's Stone
by HarryBond007
Summary: Time Travel. This is a story to give Ron the spotlight, his character won't be altered but he will be put on a spot where he is the one that will need to take the decisions. It won't always turn up good but I'm sure it will be cool. Finished.
1. The Man From Abroad

**1. DISCLAIMER. The obvious. I do not own anything. Thanks to Ms Rowling for giving us such wonderful stories. Nothing of what I write is part of HP canon. This story is mostly focused on canon characters but even if a character created by me pops up it would still be set on HP's world, I do not pretend to do anything with those characters besides having some fun writing this.  
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**2. Thanks a lot to LilyAmeliaGranger for the help putting this story in shape. I am sure it will be far better with those valuable advices. Also, thanx to Ravenpuffer for the help with the first draft of this chap.**

**3. Any error here is mine and not from my reviewer. If you spot anything or have a doubt about grammar used or plot just PM me, I'm always swift to answer.**

**4. Enjoy.**

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><p>At first the rain was nothing more than a light drizzle, barely visible from the high windows of the old neighbourhood but unavoidable to anyone walking down the street. The pavement was soon wet and slippery but the handful of people braving the weather didn't slow down their pace. They knew that they should hurry if they wanted to reach their destinations before the water unleashed its real strength.<p>

That was an ordinary afternoon at Low Baker Road, perhaps it was a bit colder than expected but nothing unusual at all. The local businesses had closed early but they always did at the weekends: they were mostly butchers or small food markets so their busiest hours were long gone. The mornings were usually louder and way more active since small crowds of people walked around creating a lot of hustle and bustle, trying to get a good bargain whenever possible. Low Baker Rd was above all a humble place, the inhabitants of its old buildings were not poor but they were not wealthy by any means either. They enjoyed jolly lives with their families there and they wouldn't change that for prettier streets.

The rain kept going as soft as it was for some time but eventually the downpour broke for real.

Summer rains were a common thing, especially that far east of the country. The residents of the street knew that and of course they were prepared. Dozens of umbrellas soon sprung into the air as everyone scattered looking for shelter. In no time at all, the place looked deserted and only a lonely car was seen passing by with its windscreen wipers moving rapidly from side to side.

The cold rain was raging furiously everywhere, except for a small alley in the middle of the block. Its wide, green awnings covering a great part of the passage, the slight gaps in between them too narrow for any raindrops to pass through. The alley appeared to be empty and almost foreign to the outside noise of the water hitting on the pavement, a few trickles down the cracks and crevices of its walls were all what disturbed its relative peace.

Crack!

The sudden noise was as loud as a car backfiring and after it a dark figure appeared in the middle of the alley. The figure had came apparently out of nowhere and immediately rushed against the nearest wall, before a white light illuminated the alley and everything came into focus.

The large cloak was deep brown and beneath it a young and nervous man was moving his head swiftly to both sides trying to see if he was alone. He had a square face and his short hair was of a brown so dark that it was almost black. Under his cloak he was wearing the oddest business suit ever to appear on Low Baker Road; it was a greyish blue with thick, almost startlingly yellow stripes. The white light now shining in the alley came from the tip of a wooden stick that the man was gripping with all of his strength. He was moving it around as if the stick was the most valuable defence he had. Which of course it was.

This man was a wizard.

As strange as that might sound it was the truth. If it seemed that he had appeared out of thin air, well, that was exactly what had happened. It was called apparition, and allowed a witch or wizard to travel very long distances almost instantly. This man used it as commonly as any respectable wizard would do. The wooden stick clutched in his hand was no torch, it was his magic wand, which he had owned since a very young age, just before starting his wizarding education. If he wanted to, he could use this wand as a dangerous weapon, throwing all kind of curses out of it. Just like him, there were many wizards and witches living in the world in small, organized communities, hiding their existence in plain sight for thousands of years without anybody of the non-magic sort even noticing a thing.

Soon the wizard realized that he was alone and he began to calm down, his breathing slowed and eventually he lowered his wand, the white light dimmed until it was as bleary as the rest of the lights on the alley. He sighed with great heaviness and leaned his head against the wall. The rain was still crashing constantly against that side of the building, the drops of rain might not reach the floor of the alley, but instead, dripped down the old bricks steadily, like a small waterfall. When the man felt the water on his head he jumped away, his cloak already soaked, but if he noticed this he didn't seem to care.

After a moment the man walked to the very end of the alley throwing occasional glances over his shoulder, his steps slow and fearful. Once there he moved his eyes across the wall until they stopped at a slightly green brick; he took a long breath and tapped his wand to it thrice.

An amazing thing happened then; out of the brick came a green door knob made of solid stone with tiny silver snakes carved around it. The wizard didn't give any sign of surprise or astonishment at what had just transpired and turned the knob with a trembling hand. A split second after he had turned the knob a whole chunk of the wall slid into the black shadows of the building as if it was the most normal door in the world. The man took a tentative step forward.

"Scared are you, Pucey?" a rasping voice growled right next to the man's ear.

The man was startled but when he tried to move he realized that someone was holding his arms now. He was pushed into the darkness, the brick door closing with a creaking sound behind him, everything turning to black.

He couldn't see a thing and before he knew what was happening another voice chuckled darkly, breaking the unnerving silence.

"I bet he is." the second voice commented from somewhere close by.

Adrian Pucey seemed to recognize the voices, and he stopped trying to move out of the grip but he remained tense.

"I'm here to see yo-your boss." he stammered.

"You are late." snapped the first voice.

"I-It wasn't my fault! They were holding me back!" Adrian protested, before continuing weakly. "Th-they- I think they suspect... they are... th-they... wait, have- you been following me?" Adrian demanded showing a courage that he didn't have.

"We're always watching you, traitor" spat the second voice, shoving Adrian one more time.

A pale light began to glow, brightening the room. It was a small place with a gloomy aisle right in front of them. Even with the light, the room had a certain darkness to it, marked by its tatty bricks and the musty smell. Adrian saw the two men's faces, not that he needed to, because he already knew who they were.

The muscular man with the rasping voice was Marcus Flint. He had attended Hogwarts with him, many years ago. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the school where all the British wizards and witches went to receive their magical education, it was divided in four houses that honoured its founders. Marcus and Adrian had both been on Slytherin, the house of the cunning they called it.

Bilgi was the surname of the other man, slightly short but not easily scared. His hair was black with streaks of grey, and as messy as the thick moustache under his nose. As most of the other men he was from another country, Turkey, perhaps. Adrian could not remember his first name for the life of him.

With an indignant snort Adrian was pushed forward.

The walk through the aisle was short but it helped, as it gave Adrian a chance to think about what he was going to say. He'd gone a long way with this and he needed to end it soon.

By instinct he cast a sideways glance at Marcus. The thick coat that he was wearing made him look even bigger than he was, he was even dressing like them now. Adrian had met Marcus playing Quidditch for their house at Hogwarts, Quidditch being the most popular wizarding sport, the competition always enjoyable. But of course the war happened, and now he shared nothing more with his former classmate.

Laughter and words spoken in a rough language grew louder as they moved towards the end of the aisle. For a moment Adrian was nervous about what he was going to find in there or who he would meet but when they stopped he discovered a scene that was pretty similar to the previous times he had been there.

The room was big enough to hold a table and a battered cabinet with bottles of firewhiskey, green and silver posters decorated its walls giving Adrian mixed feelings, even so it was the rusty door at the end which caught his attention. The place was illuminated decently enough to enable him to distinguish the three persons sitting at the table, they were having a lively conversation that Adrian couldn't understand. The man on the left had something similar to a splint on his arm and the one on the right had a fresh scar across his face. Adrian was only interested on the one in the middle though.

"You're late boy." The man said to him in way of a greeting, it didn't seem like he really cared about the delay, as he was smiling as he spoke to him.

The black haired man was in his forties, he had a pointy nose that matched his pointy chin but his really distinctive feature were his unnaturally pale, ghostly blue eyes. He was tough but silver-tongued and he had a coarse accent that Adrian couldn't place. All of Adrian's visits had been directed at him but he didn't even know his name. The man insisted that he didn't need to. Adrian could only think of him as the _foreigner_.

Adrian knew very little about that man, only piecing together details overheard from when the others had slipped up in his presence. It seemed that this man had fought during the First War but had seemingly escaped when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fell. When the Second War came, the one that Adrian could remember, the foreigner gathered supporters for the Death Eaters abroad, surely with the direct approval of You-Know-Who. The final battle exploded so suddenly that the foreigner's forces couldn't join in on time, although it was clear that this man has since been quite active with rogue Death Eaters, forming a group that not even the Ministry of Magic knew about.

They called themselves the Dark Company.

Adrian swallowed, gathering his courage. He took a deep breath, considering his words before speaking.

"I'm too old to be called a boy" Adrian answered.

The foreigner smirked, "And too naive to be called a man if you ask me. But I am curious though, how old are you Adrian?"

"Twenty-six." said Adrian carefully, trying to hide the fact that he was really nervous.

"Ah, twenty-six eh? Marvellous. Have a seat, please." The foreigner said, gesturing to the seat opposite him as he chuckled warmly, making it look as if he was receiving an old friend's visit.

Adrian shrugged his cloak off, which by now was dripping water onto the floor, and moved towards the chair. Once Adrian was seated, the foreigner turned to Marcus and Bilgi.

"Grab a bottle and join us, this one is already empty." He instructed them. "Bring glasses too, one for my friend here, of course." He smiled at Adrian again.

"For the traitor?" Marcus spat in disbelief. Adrian detested being called a traitor. He had never betrayed them, not once. He was never one of them.

"I don't care if he's a traitor as long as he's a guest." The foreigner insisted without losing his playful smile.

Marcus and Adrian glared at each other but a few moments later, Marcus gave in and left to get the drinks and glasses. Bilgi took a seat as close to the foreigner as possible.

Adrian was pretty aware that he was outnumbered, his palms started to sweat, so he gripped his knees under the table in an attempt to calm himself down. He mustn't let them see how much they can affect him, so he tried desperately to keep his facial expression neutral.

Once the drinks were served Adrian decided to go directly to the point. He was in no mood for small talk.

"So, are you going to free Emily?"

The foreigner pretended to be surprised by the question.

"Who? The girl?" He sat back in his chair, seeming totally relaxed, despite the dangerous glint in his eyes. "Oh, no, not yet I'm afraid. You haven't finished your part. We aren't quite sure what you might do if we returned her to you at this moment."

Adrian clenched his jaw, dropping his gaze from the foreigner, but he couldn't say that this wasn't the answer he was expecting. "Ok, but are you keeping your promise? She hasn't been hurt?" He looked the foreigner in eyes again, trying to convey his seriousness for this matter.

"Of course not, who do you take me for? Haven't you spoken to her several times by now?" The pale-eyed man protested, looking quite offended. "I am a man of my word."

"Can you let me see her then?" Adrian asked hopefully, lifting his hands from his knees and setting them on the table.

The foreigner considered it, drumming his fingers on the table top. "Perhaps. But that's not why you are here right now. We have to talk about business first."

Adrian was taken aback. "What business? You have what you wanted. I'm done."

The blond man next to the foreigner spoke and the fresh scar on his face moved weirdly. "We won't have what we want until things are the way they are supposed to be."

"We shouldn't be hiding like this! Like rats! Like... like _saast_!"Added the man with the splint, as he leaned forward, his dry and rough hair barely moving. "You like it, don't you? You think you are better than us!"

"Ivan, Peet, gentlemen please. I am sure Adrian here is not insinuating anything like that." The foreigner paused, taking a sip from his glass. "You aren't, right?"

Adrian shook his head slowly, frowning as he did it.

The foreigner spoke with his coarse accent. "You're close, we only need one last little favour from you, Adrian."

Adrian's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped open. "A favour? I gave you that bloody map and all the information you needed!"

"Yes, your information was of great value to us, and we thank you for that. We certainly wouldn't have accomplished our plans for Azkaban without it. We are very grateful."

Adrian felt his heart sink. Azkaban? Surely not? Surely he hadn't helped with that...

He cleared his throat, splaying his hands in front of him. "Now, I had nothing to do with that part right? I-I- just got the map for you. I had no clue about anything else!" He was suddenly feeling very hot all over, worry springing up inside of him. He noticed Marcus stiffen at his sharp, nervous words.

Azkaban was the British wizarding prison. The very worst practitioners of the Dark Arts were locked up there without a chance of ever getting out. It was initially guarded by the dementors, nasty and repulsive creatures that could suck the very soul out of any living thing, but after the war though, they were vanished away, and the only ones guarding the cells now were the aurors. Aurors were wizards working for the Ministry of Magic, the Auror Department being the part of the Ministry in charge of keeping the law among the wizarding community. Adrian had a boring desk job there, in that very department, nothing that could put him or anybody else in danger. At least, until now.

Marcus grinned at him devilishly. "So what was your stupid brain thinking then, Pucey? That we were going to use what you gave us to build our own little model of Azkaban?"

The room broke in laughter except for the foreigner who looked just slightly amused.

"I-I.. thought you were just going to free a small thug or something like that." Adrian tried to justify himself but deep down he had always known what could happen as a result of his actions.

"If he really thinks that then he's an _aptal_" said Bilgi between laughs. Adrian didn't know what aptal meant but he was sure that it was not something nice.

"He's a worthless pillock, that's what he is" Marcus concluded, his dark eyes fixed firmly on Adrian's every move.

The foreigner talked softly and his ghostly eyes seemed to shine.

"Adrian, very dangerous men were freed last week. People died, yes a couple of inmates and a few loyal fellows from the Company, but some aurors too. Good honest aurors Adrian, aurors with families. You did that."

"I-I-I.." Adrian was dead pale and his mouth couldn't form words. His legs had almost given out on him the morning that he'd been given the news and the guilt had been eating him from the inside out ever since then.

"They were useless pricks." Peet, the man with the black hair, cut in. "Some of them didn't even manage to throw a single curse."

"They were good people." Adrian insisted in a low voice, a lump forming in his throat. "I knew them."

"Where were you then, Pucey? Where were you when they were dying?" Marcus asked pointedly, raising an eyebrow as he spoke.

"Probably with his arse on that comfortable chair of his." smirked Bilgi, folding his arms across his chest.

"I..." Adrian was just lost for words. He didn't know what to do next.

"They weren't going to last long either way." Ivan shrugged, waving his hand in the air as if to brush off the situation. Adrian turned to him with a glare, but he didn't get to say anything.

"Adrian, there's nothing you can do about it now." The foreigner told him quietly. Adrian stared at him before realising that he had no strength to oppose them, despite how much he wanted to. He realized that his hair was still wet but it seemed surreal to think about the rain outside. Arriving in Low Baker Road seemed like an age ago to him by now, as if it was part of a different reality.

The foreigner downed his drink in one go, then leaned forward with a wicked smile. He spoke in a careful tone, but one that still managed to send shivers down Adrian's spine.

"Look my friend, that's in the past. You need to let it go. We are the future and we only need one last little thing from you. Do this for us and you will be left alone to live happily with that boring half-blood girl of yours."

The look that Adrian gave him was of pure confusion as if he couldn't understand anything coming out of the man's mouth. His mind was still on the Ministry, still on the day he got the news of the attack on Azkaban.

"We know that there are a lot of aurors everywhere." The foreigner continued. "St Mungo's, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade... but we know that there is one place where they are not expecting anybody. We want you to tell us which night Harry Potter will be standing guard at the Ministry of Magic."

The young man's eyes widened. "What? Why?" Adrian blurted out without thinking. He suddenly became clammy all over when the obvious hit him. He lurched to his feet, knocking his chair over in his haste.

"NO! No, you cannot ask me to do that!" He pleaded, his stomach starting to churn.

"I believe that you are in no position to argue, boy." spat Peet, his dark hair looking like old pieces of wire. He was smiling as he put his drink down, next to his splinted arm.

"You don't have a choice." reminded Bilgi, with his squeaky voice.

"There are too many aurors at the Ministry, whatever you're planning, it won't work! Do you really think that you can defeat Harry Potter?!"

"Believe me, we won't have a problem with Potter." The foreigner spoke again with that dangerous tone to his voice.

"I knew you were on his side Pucey!" Marcus roared.

"I'm not on his side Marcus, I'm just trying to live my life." Adrian said. "Higgs, Malfoy, and many others are doing the same thing I am. It's the-"

"We don't care about your fellow traitors, you troll head!" Marcus yelled, spittle flying from his mouth. The big man stood up and Adrian's eyes widened when he noticed that Marcus was pointing his wand at him.

Adrian moved his hand to his pocket, fearing what was going to happen next. His heart hitting hard against his chest. However, before any of them could do anything more the calm voice of the foreigner echoed.

"Now, now gentlemen, lets keep this friendly please." he warned, glancing round at everyone present, causing Marcus to huff in annoyance. The foreigner threw a dangerous look at Marcus at that, a more direct warning, Marcus was quick to lower his wand after it.

Adrian and Marcus glared at each other as they sat down again.

Once everything was more calmed, the foreigner spoke again, "Look Adrian, I like you, I really do. I know that as a Slytherin, you moved along with the winning side, but now we are the winning side and you need to be with us. Think of it as an opportunity."

"I don't see how you are winning. Even if you could beat Potter, you would be surrounded in no time. The Ministry cannot be attacked, it has hard defences, especially after the war."

And there it was again, the steely glint in the foreigner's eyes.

"You will cooperate, boy." He assured Adrian firmly.

Marcus then chose to chip in again, his face twisting into a horrible smile. "Or we could put a couple of spells on your girlfriend. Bet I can drive her barking mad in no time."

"You'll leave Emily alone if you know what's good for you!" Adrian yelled. Now it was Adrian's turn to take out his wand and aim directly at Marcus.

That was really a step too far for Adrian, and for one blinding moment he was willing to, and even strongly believed that he could fight all of them in the room right now, if that was what it would take to keep Emily safe. Even if it resulted in a clear defeat.

Marcus was initially stunned but he soon seemed ready to fight Adrian. The foreigner quickly stepped in though, preventing anything drastic from happening.

"Adrian please, ignore those stupid comments. Emily is safe now and I am sure that we do not need to be threatening one another. It is tasteless and absolutely not necessary."

For a moment everybody stilled. Adrian was caught on the foreigner's pale eyes, trying to decide how shifty his promises were. So far the man had kept his word but they still had Emily, and Adrian wouldn't be at peace until she was released.

Adrian lowered his wand, but kept it ready.

"That plan is not going to work." he said calmly to them, tightening his grip on his wand, and many teeth gritted around the table.

"Of course it is, now listen. A special something is right now at your Ministry, you don't need to know what it is or what it does but it is useful to us. We don't need you to get it. The amount of aurors there is not something that worries us either, we have enough men and they are moving more aurors to other places leaving the Ministry with fewer numbers. We know this, it is an easy battle, we only want to kill two birds with one stone and strike the same day that Potter is there. You will cooperate."

He was paralysed under his brown cloak. They were asking him to do something that would lead to another tragedy. Around thirty people were going to be left at the Ministry and that included Potter, it was not impossible to outnumber that. Adrian didn't know if they were really looking for something at the Ministry or if this was all only to get Potter, to get revenge.

Noticing his silence the foreigner continued. "You will also tell us exactly how many are left and how are they spread around the place. You will tell us about protection spells in there and any other information that we need to know. You would be naive if you thought that you are our only man from the inside, we will know if you lie." And with that the foreigner smiled, leaning back on his chair, serving himself another drink and filling the glasses of his companions. Adrian's glass was still full.

So it was not only about Potter after all, they wanted Adrian to give them the Ministry. If he gave them the aurors' positions and protections he would be signing their death sentences. The foreigner's forces would enter like an avalanche with minor losses to their side, while the fewer aurors were caught by surprise. The Dark Company would wipe them out completely, including Potter. Adrian wasn't sure about the rumours that said that Potter couldn't be killed but he doubted that he could survive so many wands throwing all kind of curses at him at once. If Adrian did this it wouldn't matter if the reinforcements caught the foreigner after that, he would be directly responsible for the death of thirty people and this time he would know it before the fact, leaving him entirely responsible.

"NO! I won't!" Adrian cried firmly, as he stood up again, "You have taken too much from me already! I won't let you..."

At that moment one word echoed from the distance and Adrian froze.

"CRUCIO!"

The voice came from the door at the end of the room and it immediately grabbed his attention. The yells that followed then were the most horrible that Adrian have ever heard, they were the yells of a girl.

"You bastards!" Adrian yelled, aiming his wand again, but he was soon beaten by Marcus who this time was prepared. Marcus shot an orange light, which passed by Adrian's eyes. The next thing that Adrian knew was that he was flying out of his chair, hitting the floor hard, landing on his back. The foreigner and the two men at his side remained still as if nothing had happened.

"You said... you pro-promised..." Adrian murmured, trembling from head to foot, and trying to contain tears of rage. He could hear laughter coming from Peet and Ivan.

"It wasn't me. I swear that what you just heard was out of my control." the foreigner said calmly.

Then the door opened and an old man with a twisted face came inside. He had a lot of grey mingled with his black hair and the unequivocal signs on his face of having passed through a lot of hard days. Adrian had seen him before in many pictures but he was always younger in them, except for last week when one picture showed him to look exactly as he did now.

"Dolohov" muttered Adrian, almost subconsciously. He immediately felt wary, and dread filled his stomach.

Antonin Dolohov approached the table slowly, leaving the door ajar. Peet quickly gave up his seat for him, then the fugitive grabbed the bottle and drank directly from it.

"I don't know how you keep up with this scum." He addressed the foreigner, raking his long, scraggly hair aside.

"The Imperious curse is faster. I am sure you have a few legilimens with you too." He commented, eyeing Adrian as he spoke.

"Imperius is faster but it also raises more suspicious. Legilimency does not guarantee his cooperation, if we keep him here then his absence would be noticed. Besides, I trust that Adrian will be helpful, father" said the foreigner with a mischievous grin.

Adrian Pucey was shocked, so shocked that he couldn't even move a finger.

Dolohov stood up, slowly walking towards Adrian, making the young man shiver with every step. When he was next to him the aged man bent until his face was only inches away. Cold drops of sweat were sliding down Adrian's young, squared face.

"You will do as you're told." said Dolohov with a low growl, "If you don't, I will personally use the Imperius on you and I won't care if I scramble that brain of yours in the process. Once we get what we want I will kill you, but not before using a few curses on that girl over there. I promise that you will watch every bit of it." The former Death Eater returned to his place and drank another sip from the bottle.

"Slytherin's should be better than this prick."

The terror that Adrian felt then was something that he hadn't experienced before. The young man nodded as Marcus hauled him up from the floor, then he headed to the table. Adrian told them everything they wanted to know and even more.

"Are you sure we need to do this with Potter there?" asked Bilgi looking at the foreigner and Dolohov with caution.

"I heard he can't be beaten." Peet added, siding with Bilgi.

Dolohov didn't look pleased by those words.

"Potter was a frightened boy then and he is still one now. I don't know what kind of trick he used against the Dark Lord but that was a lucky hit that only worked because of some rubbish between their wands. I faced him once, and he is nothing alone. I will beat him, and after that I will bring the Dark Lord back."

The words echoed on the room, Marcus and Bilgi looked nervous but the foreigner was grinning. Across from him, Adrian Pucey was beyond petrified, he didn't know what to believe. But he was a person without a choice now, he didn't have the guts to fight them. He was a traitor after all, a traitor to thirty people. No better than a murderer.

When he finished with his task he was lead to the distant door to see her. He was crushed, he didn't raise his sight from the floor, not even once.


	2. A Secret At The Ministry

**Thanks to Ana-DaughterOfHades for the help reviewing this chap.**

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><p>The sun was shining bright over Ottery St Catchpole and its nearby hills, covering every inch of the countryside with a lively warmth that only summer could bring. The landscape was stunning, orchards and fields, as green as the leaves on the trees, were spread all around with only a few narrow roads separating them. It was so peaceful that the low babble of a distant stream could be heard from a mile away.<p>

This peace was soon disturbed by the sound of hurried footsteps. A young couple was walking through the fields with no sign of a car, but the distance from town made it unlikely that they had come walking all the way from there.

The man was tall and had short hair that was as red as could be; his long nose was surrounded by freckles, which made the blue of his eyes stand out. He was a wizard named Ronald Weasley, and the bushy haired woman at his side was his wife.

"They shouldn't be questioning you, it doesn't feel right," his wife worried, as they walked downhill. She was holding some kind of bowl in her hands, the contents covered with a white cloth.

"It's weird, I know, but Redfern said they have to do it with everybody," Ron insisted, securing his grip on several boxes wrapped in colourful patterned paper.

"I know they have to. All I'm saying is that it feels wrong," she pressed on.

They walked several more paces in silence. Ron's wife appeared to be in deep thought, intense concentration showing on her face. She continued talking, even her voice sounded puzzled.

"I just can't understand what all of this is about; I mean, why now? Who are they?"

Ron looked troubled, but he shrugged it off under the pile of gifts he was carrying.

"Probably a few rogue Death Eaters with some git in the Department helping them. It's only a matter of time before we lock all of them down," he replied, his face hardening with a grim frown.

The Death Eaters were a group of dark wizards who had fought in the war several years ago. They were part of the belief that the only wizards and witches who should be allowed to study Magic were those who came from very long lines of magical families. They believed that children born from non-magical people, Muggles, as the Wizarding World called them, were useless and a disgrace to all of the magical community. Ron, and the entire Weasley family, couldn't disagree more. In fact, Ron's wife was herself a muggleborn and was one of the most talented and renowned witches in the whole of Britain.

Fortunately, these were times of peace. There had been no wars for years, and incidents with rogue Death Eaters were less and less frequent, at least, until a few weeks ago.

Ron's wife was peering around him, trying to see if they were alone, and of course they were, as they were right in the middle of the countryside. Once she was sure of their seclusion, she leaned close to her husband and spoke in a very low voice.

"What if they know of the thing I told you about?" She paused and lowered her voice even more, her brow furrowed with concern. "The one at the Ministry," she whispered, gazing intently at Ron.

"Blimey Hermione, you worry too much!" Ron exclaimed. "They don't know about that, you said no one knew."

"Yes, but- what if they do?" Hermione looked quite frazzled as her mind spanned over all of the things that would go wrong if the Death Eaters had the information she had in mind.

"We can handle it. There must be only ten of them left, maybe less. They only knew where they were going and took everybody by surprise. They won't last for very much longer; every Auror wants a piece of them, and we're prepared now."

Ron had been trying to quell his wife's concern ever since the attack on Azkaban. He didn't want her to think that he was going to be in that sort of danger again. However, he got the odd feeling that there was something more to the attackers' plan than simply a prison break.

Harry and Redfern were both worried. They thought the break-out was only the beginning of a larger plan. Harry said that whoever did it risked too much, and he didn't believe they would've done all of that just to free some old friends, especially since they could have done that years ago. Ron would very much like to have disagreed with them, but he couldn't; he knew Harry and Redfern were right.

That didn't meant he was going to tell that to Hermione of course.

Ron forced a smile before continuing. "You know what? Let's enjoy the party today, maybe they felt stupid at the Department questioning Harry. He might be here already."

Hermione didn't look convinced, but she nodded anyway.

At that moment they reached the bottom of the hill and a large, plain field extended in front of them, devoid of any trees and shrubs, but still a bright, luscious green lawn stretch out far and wide across the open space. A few yards further across the area, Ron spoke to his wife again.

"I wonder if George brought some fireworks..."

Ron had just finished talking when the air around them rippled as they took their next step. It was as if they had walked through a huge transparent sheet. In front of them, as if it had instantaneously blossomed out of the ground, was a tall, rickety-looking house.

The house had several stories, which were piled one on top of the other, but not in the usual way. Instead of having one floor directly on top of the one beneath it, the different levels were balanced precariously from one side to the other, parts of upper floors somehow staying afloat in mid air, which made the entire house look as if it could fall down at any moment. This of course wasn't going to happen any time soon, as it was Magic that kept it standing with an impressive solidness. It had been the home of Ron when he was younger, but now only his parents lived there; everybody called it the Burrow.

They walked across the garden until they reached the front door, which Ron managed to knock on with the tip of one foot. Ron thought that he heard some noises coming from the shed, which probably meant that his father was there, but he couldn't go to say hello with his hands as full of presents as they were.

The door opened to reveal a woman with short brown hair. She was wearing an apron and was drying her hands on a dish cloth. As soon as she saw them she gave them a big smile.

"Oh Ron, Hermione! Come in, everybody's in the garden," she beamed, opening the door wider.

"Thanks Audrey, is Harry here too?" asked Hermione as they walked into the house.

"No, he's not here yet, sorry. We're only waiting for him now. Ginny's not happy." Audrey frowned, tucking the dish cloth into the front pocket of her apron.

"Shocking," Ron said in his best ironic voice; Hermione still heard him, which earned him a glare from his wife. Ginny was generally an easy-going person, but when her temper got the better of her, one should try to steer clear of her. Ron knew that first-hand from growing up with her, so he was always cautious around his little sister, especially now that she was pregnant.

Sometimes Ron wondered how Harry was able to always be on the right side of Ginny's temper. Harry Potter has been Ron's best mate since their first day at Hogwarts, they had stuck by each other through an awful lot, and now both worked at the Auror Office. He was more like a brother to Ron, rather than just simply a friend, so this mindset became kind of official the day Harry married Ginny.

As they passed through the living room, Ron almost reflexively glanced over at everything, as he always did whenever he returned home.

The Burrow was a cozy place, and even with its furniture being quite old, it was amazingly comfortable too. Ron's father had a great job now, compared to when Ron and his siblings were growing up, but they hadn't moved away or remodelled the house at all; they loved it just the way it was. Any extra money they had always went on travel, and gifts for the grand-kids. Ron could swear everything looked exactly the same as when he lived there.

Well, almost everything. The pictures were different now since most of the portraits of Ron and his siblings were hidden behind a whole row of grand-kids' photos.

The family clock which pointed to the location of each family member had also changed, it had more hands now, and the '_Home'_ label was replaced by names such as '_Potter House'_ or '_Shell Cottage'_. There were so many hands on The Burrow at the moment that Ron couldn't distinguish the individual names, but even so there was one placed far away from the others. The lonely hand pointed at '_Work'_, and it was labelled Harry.

He'd already taken too long; Ron wondered what was going on.

There was another lone hand placed at '_Romania'_ with the label Charlie on it. The second eldest Weasley brother was working abroad, and he couldn't be around for every birthday, but still he came by every couple of months with his hands full of presents.

When they entered the kitchen, they found an old woman chopping carrots on the table, her name was Andromeda Tonks, and since she was a close friend of the family it was not unusual to see her around on birthdays. Andromeda's grandson, Teddy, was as good as family too since he was Harry's godson.

There was also a younger and gorgeous woman sitting across from Andromeda; she was Ron's sister-in-law and was pregnant too. Fleur was Bill's wife, and she had given birth to a couple of the Weasley grand-kids already; she was waiting for the third. Ron couldn't remember when the new Weasley was due, but to him it looked as if it could come at any moment.

The redhaired man had many brothers and a sister, so it was only natural to have a house full of kids and pregnant women, and of course, Ron's mother couldn't be happier.

Hermione and Ron had been thinking about having a baby too, but they were going to wait a few more months. Hermione was moving from the_ Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures_ to her new job at the _Department of Magical Law Enforcement_; she was now working very closely with the Minister of Magic. Ron had asked if she would be able to handle the new job and a pregnancy at the same time, whenever that time may be, but Hermione seemed quite confident of it, even excited.

"Hey Mum."

"Ron? Weren't you two supposed to come by Floo?" asked Ron's mother, barely looking away from the stove. The woman seemed to have her hands completely busy.

"Err.. yeah, we are kind of short on powder, need to get some," answered Ron from behind the boxes; Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Oh, Hi dear... you brought the trifle?" asked Ron's mother as soon as she saw Hermione.

"Yes Molly, hope it is enough," Hermione answered with a wide smile. She set the bowl on the table, and after greeting Andromeda and Fleur, she headed towards the stove too. Audrey was mixing some stuff already on the other side of the kitchen. "It looks like I'm needed here."

Ron's mother smiled, "Audrey was helping me dear, but thank you, we can use the extra wand, a lot of mouths to feed today," she said beaming; then with a flick of her wand a big tar came flying to her from the other side of the room.

"I could 'elp, really, I'm fine," said Fleur. Her french accent had faded a bit in the recent years, but there were still some traces of it appearing from time to time.

"We already talked about that; you're only a month away. You shouldn't be straining yourself. Besides we can handle this kitchen by ourselves," said Ron's mother causing Fleur to let out a low snort. Hermione turned to smile at the pregnant woman, who was usually very active in the kitchen.

Hermione, who was now handling a large pan, found Ron's eyes, and she gave him a weird smile. Ron knew she was still worried, still thinking about that bloody thing at the Ministry. He wished there was a spell to magically erase all of her worries.

Ron walked outside where a huge tent was being raised, Percy and George were lifting one side with their wands while Bill finished the other end. Angelina and Ginny were setting the table with a few levitation charms. Both women were around four months pregnant.

"Is that the gift table?" asked Ron out loud when he saw a small place filled with boxes wrapped in all kind of colours; everybody turned their heads to him.

"You figured that all by yourself? Always wondered why you were not a Ravenclaw dear brother," yelled George from the other end of the garden.

"Very funny, now come here and help me with this"

It was Bill who moved to help his brother, "Dad's in the garage with the kids; he's showing them a few Muggle toys," he said. Bill's long ponytail, his earring and clothes were the same as always, he was surely a one-of-a-kind father.

"Yeah, think I heard them in there."

Percy's birthday was the day before, but it was always easier to gather up on Saturdays. This was a special party though since they were also celebrating Ginny and one of Bill's daughters. The whole Azkaban thing had cancelled those reunions the previous weeks; with all the fuss, Ron and Hermione were only able to give Ginny a quick visit then.

Ron was giving his good wishes to Percy when Bill spoke to him, "Wasn't Harry with you?" asked the eldest Weasley brother.

"Err... No, my audience was yesterday. Guess they wanted to leave Harry for the very end because they knew it was an useless questioning; they're not mad enough to think Harry had something to do with that," said Ron heading to greet his sister; Ginny was frowning.

"They didn't have to do it; it's stupid," said the redhead woman; her arms were crossed over her chest.

"They had to; it's the procedure," added Percy. Ginny glared at him, and Ron's brother jumped in his place.

Once the tent was up, everybody gathered at the table and sat around Ron, "Have they found something?" Angelina asked.

"They haven't told us, but if they really had something, the audiences would have stopped by now, don't you think?" said Ron, "Everything is tense at the office; even Redfern is being questioned."

"The Head Auror?"

Bill nodded at Angelina's shocked expression, "It is a difficult situation; an escape from Azkaban is not a small matter, especially when former Death Eaters were released. People might start arguing about defences; they might even mention dementors."

George joined them, "Rubbish! People escaped with the dementors too."

"I think no one really wants them back; it's only a twisted political manoeuvre on Kingsley," said Percy looking serious.

"But that's stupid!"

George put an arm around Angelina and turned to look at Percy, "Of course it is; if it weren't, it wouldn't be politics."

"Oy!" said Percy and a few smirks were heard, including Bill. The smile of the oldest Weasley brother was weird with the scar over his face, but everyone was used to it now.

"And Hermione?" asked Ginny noticing her friend's absence.

"She's helping Mum in the kitchen."

"Oh, do they need help?" asked Angelina, Ginny was also standing up. The redhead was never good at cookery, but Ron had to admit she have improved a bit in the last years.

Ron shrugged as George stood up, "Oh, allow me to go ask about it, fine ladies. I'll take a look at how the food is going too."

"You know your mother doesn't like people messing around before the food is done," Angelina warned him.

"Maybe she has changed her mind, my loved one," replied George with a wink of his eye.

"I really doubt it," said Ron, who had personally faced the consequences of sneaking there on other occasions.

George didn't seem to care, and soon everybody heard Ron's mother yells coming from the house. Laughs spread around, and eventually George returned with a plate full of snacks and a few pieces of bread. It was clear their mother hadn't seen him taking those.

"How long did your audience take?" asked Ginny to Ron suddenly, "Isn't he supposed to be back already?"

"I don't think it will be long now. He's probably on his way here."

At that very moment a huge white and blue light took them all by surprise, but before anyone could react the light decreased until it was a recognizable silhouette. A shining stag.

Next, the figure spoke with the clear and unmistakable voice of Harry Potter, "It is taking too long; my audience hasn't started yet. We had other pending issues to attend. I will get there as soon as I can. Please, start without me."

Then the light faded, and the stag disappeared. George Weasley turned smirking towards Ron, "You are quite a divination wonder"

"Oh knock it off!"

Ginny snorted loudly. "That Redfern is going to hear from me"

"I'm sure he will Gin, but this is above him," said Bill with a weak smile as their father came into the garden followed by a few kids; he had a little girl on his arms with a light red hair.

"Hey, Hey, easy," he said to the children when they raced past him.

"Wow! Was that Harry's patronus?" asked a blue haired boy running to where the light faded.

"I don't know Teddy, was it?" asked Ron's father addressing the last part to the people at the table.

Almost everybody nodded. "He said he's busy; he'll be late."

"Ow! I missed it!" whimpered the five year old boy.

Victoire, Bill's daughter and the oldest Weasley grand-kid, went to her father trying to ask about the patronus. The other two girls were too young to understand. Molly was Percy and Audrey's daughter. She could barely walk, and as soon as Percy saw her he stood up and raised her from the floor. Dominique was the one on her grandfather's arms; she was Victoire's younger sister.

"He said to start without him."

"Maybe we should wait a little longer," said Angelina looking at Ginny, who was not very happy with her husband's message.

"I'm better at waiting when I don't have my stomach this empty," said Ron who was dead hungry; still he gained a glare from his sister. "Okay, Okay... I can wait... but not much"

George stood up and took the kids to play something in the distance. Ron knew that his brother always had his pockets filled with all kinds of fun things; even when those were not always safe. Ron used to help him on weekends with the joke shop, but the job at the office had kept him very busy lately. Some time ago, George had offered him a job there; Ron had thought about taking it more than once; it would surely keep Hermione less worried at least. Maybe he could use the career change.

It didn't take long for Hermione and Audrey to come with the first plates. They told them about Harry's message, and Hermione turned to Ron with a troubled expression.

They all tried to wait for Harry of course but eventually decided to start without him; even Ginny started because Ron's mother insisted in having healthy grand-kids. It was not until a couple of hours later when Harry arrived, and Ron was the only one still eating.

Little Teddy rushed towards his godfather; his hair was brown now. The kid was a Metamorphmagus and could change many aspects of his body at will. Harry raised him in his arms and continued walking towards the table.

"... but I missed it! Just saw it disappear!"

"Don't worry Teddy, I'll make the patronus again later... now I'm starving!" Ron's friend was chewing on a piece of bread he surely grabbed on his way from the kitchen.

Ginny reached them and gave Harry a small kiss; she seemed more relaxed now. "Then you should have brought your feet here earlier, Mister," she said.

"I'm glad to be here now, hope that counts."

"We'll see," replied Ginny.

After greeting everybody, Harry gave Ron a weird look; it was his way of telling him things were not going well at the office. He would surely hear more about it later.

The reunion continued to be more lively after that; they talked about all kinds of things including the success of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes third branch and a lot about Quidditch. Then Ginny made the big announcement.

When she first found out about her pregnancy, Ginny had officially resigned from her place as a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. It turned out the Daily Prophet have just offered her a job as a Quidditch correspondent, and she was going to take it, which allowed her to have both Quidditch and family in her life. Ron was shocked, and the first thing he asked was if she was going to be able to get Chudley Cannons tickets now.

"I thought you had already realized the Cannons are never going to win the league," said Harry.

"They will! They just need me cheering them... in every single game... in a skybox." He turned to look at Ginny with pleading eyes.

Everybody laughed, including Ginny. "I'll see what I can do. If it's not possible, I can always get you more Harpies' tickets," she said and Ron snorted.

The presents came next and joy covered the Burrow, especially from the kids. Dominique had a very wide smile as she opened hers and little Molly did too because her father was carrying her as he opened his. Molly didn't know what a magical razor or a schedule book were, but either way she surely enjoyed moving the wrapping around. Percy was having as much fun as her.

"Hey, is that a colour changing tie? Nice touch Ron," said Bill.

"It was Hermione's idea; I had initially thought about a talking suit."

"A talking suit? That doesn't sound very useful," said Angelina.

"What did it say?" asked Audrey.

"All kinds of greetings, it even recognized the time of the day! It was brilliant!"

Hermione seemed to be holding in a laugh. "It also called you Mrs Redhead."

Laughter erupted. "Hey! It was a cracking suit not a mind reader!" argued Ron laughing too.

"Hmmmm I think I might get one for myself; you will need to tell me where they sell those, son," said Ron's father quite intrigued.

When that was over, Ron's mother announced that only the dessert was left, but before she stood up George beat her to it. "Don't tire yourself my dearly mother, I'll get that trifle myself," and he bolted to the kitchen leaving some weird looks behind.

George himself served the trifle, which was beyond suspicious.

"You didn't put anything in this, did you?" Hermione asked.

"George! You better have not!" said Ron's mother.

"You hurt me... I would never do something like that to you Hermione!" replied George, but even Angelina was looking weirdly at him now.

On previous parties he had always found a way to play a trick on someone, especially on Ron. One time he even made his eyebrows grow so big that they completely covered his view for a whole hour.

Ron was confused; one part of him wanted to eat his wife's trifle, which he knew was delicious, but another side doubted.

Suddenly Hermione grabbed her plate and swapped it with Ron's. "So, is it ok if I take Ron's? It's a smaller portion and I ate a lot already," she said still looking at George, daring him to continue with whatever he was planning. Everyone knew George didn't have a problem pulling a joke on Ron, but he would have to be very brave to try something on Hermione.

"As you please, my dear sister-in-law."

Very slowly Hermione took a bite from her plate while everyone looked at her, even Percy looked nervous. A whole minute passed, but nothing seemed to happen, so everybody sighed and started eating. If there was nothing in Ron's plate then everything was alright, or at least that was what Ron thought.

As soon as Ron grabbed a bite from the trifle that was supposed to be Hermione's slice, he started feeling weird. With every chew he felt that his mouth was getting more and more cramped, even when he wasn't taking big spoonfuls. Then he realized what was happening, his tongue kept, and he couldn't stop it until it inevitably hit the table in front of them.

"WOOWY WELL!" was all what could be understood from him.

"Wow! what's that?!" asked Teddy, pointing as more laughter exploded on the table; at his side, Mrs. Tonks was stunned.

"George!" yelled Ron's mother.

Ron panicked, even when his tongue had stopped growing. Hermione on the other hand was dumbfounded. "But... how did you...?"

George had the biggest smile ever, and Percy was trying to contain a laugh.

Not far away Bill was shocked, pointing between them with a blank expression, "You... but what if she hadn't... oohh Merlin that was bold!"

In a flash Hermione took out her wand and pointed it at George. The redhead man raised his arms in defeat, "It was Percy's idea!" he said.

"What? No... No. I just helped him with the last part; it was him, I swear. I didn't know-" said Percy quickly.

In a swift move, Hermione flicked her wand at both of them as they closed their eyes. It appeared as if Ron's wife hadn't done anything; George and Percy looked confused.

"What? I don't feel different," said George, but he did it with a high pitched voice, almost as if it was some cartoon talking. "Oy!" he said once he listened to himself.

Everyone was laughing, even Dominique who was now on Audrey's lap. Percy did too, but he did it in a high pitched tone. Ron finally joined them and was glad to see a smile on his wife, they needed to forget about the worries at least for a few hours.

"I think it sounds better!" Angelina said while Audrey chuckled.

"I don't find ze difference," Fleur added with a wide smile.

Looking at George and Percy laughing of their own voices, made Ron remember his deceased brother. Fred had been George's twin, and they always did those kind of things together; at least his spirit remained with them after the war in some way.

Ron felt a tug from his sleeve then, and when he turned, he saw little Teddy Lupin standing next to him.

"Wafff?" he asked.

"Look," the boy said.

Teddy made his own tongue grow in size, all the way to his chest, and moved it from one side to the other playfully. People were taken aback, but soon laughter erupted again. Angelina actually said that she needed to stop laughing because she couldn't handle it any more. Little Molly was confused at first, but when she saw everyone laughing she joined.

"'AN I WO WACK WOW?" asked Ron to George trying very hard to speak clearly.

"I have no idea what you just asked Ickle Ronnie, still... let me think about it," said George's shrill voice.

"You will fix my husband right now or I'll give you something worse than a big tongue!" Hermione said to George with a menacing smile.

"What? I think it looks better now..." he started but when he saw Hermione moving her hand, he pulled a little vial out, "Here, here, I yield."

After taking the liquid in the little vial Ron's tongue slowly returned to its normal size, but even then Hermione didn't lift the spell on George and Percy's voices.

"Hey! We gave you the antidote! I can't go to work like this."

"What are you talking about?! You work in a joke shop! I am the one with the problem," complained a scared Percy. Hermione chuckled, and Ron noticed that even his mother was smirking.

The party continued, and people got used to Percy and George's voice. Teddy made all kinds of changes to his tongue until he got bored and returned it back to normal; he went to Harry and asked him to see the patronus again. His godfather agreed joyfully. When the night came, George stood up and prepared the fireworks; Teddy was the first one there of course.

Since the kids were with George, it was the perfect time to talk about what was going on. Harry let out that they were now looking into Redfern and people outside of the Auror Office, so it was likely that the questioning could reach Hermione, Percy, or even Ron's father.

"Are they sure they are Death Eaters?" asked Ron's father at some point.

"Not as far as I know. The surviving aurors are too injured to answer questions; it really took them by surprise," Harry said grimly, "Some of them mumble the attackers didn't speak English; others that they had Death Eaters' masks. No one knows for sure."

"But this is not... like before, isn't it?"

"We don't think so Molly. It is believed there were very few attackers."

"Then how did they get past all the defences and guardians?" asked Audrey.

"Inside knowledge is the only way to do it that fast. That's the reason for the audiences," said Bill while Harry nodded.

"So... what does that mean? They knew about the defences?"

"You bet, we got a rat at the office," added Ron, and an uncomfortable silence fell on the table.

Harry gave Ron a weird look; he had an idea of what his friend was thinking. They had found themselves with their own Wormtail at the Auror Office.

Bill tried to ask about that rat, but obviously Harry didn't have a clue of who that was; the audiences wouldn't keep going if they had already found him.

"Who did they free?" Percy asked in his high pitched voice, and a few smirks lightened the mood. "Oh, come on Hermione!"

A few seconds before Hermione had been very serious, but that made her struggle to contain a laugh. She lifted the spell, and Percy's voice returned to normal.

"Thanks."

"Well, I believe Dolohov and Rowle were the most dangerous ones. From the way everything happened, Redfern thinks they came directly for one of them," Harry answered.

"Or both," added Ron while Harry nodded.

"D-Dolohov?" Mrs. Tonks asked, looking pale; she and Ron's mother turned to look at Teddy in the distance. Dolohov had killed Teddy's father in the final battle, and the kid was left without knowing his parents. Harry looked unsettled.

"Poor child," Ron's mother muttered.

No one said anything more about the topic since not even Harry had much more information to share; the table remained serious though. Ron's father said that the aurors would eventually catch them at which Harry gave a weak nod. Neither Ginny or Hermione looked comfortable with that.

Ron held his wife's hand, trying to say everything was going to be alright, and she smiled back. Ron saw his sister cuddling on Harry as his friend put an arm over her shoulder; they were whispering something to one another.

After a while George returned, and the fireworks started. Soon everyone was in a better mood, or at least it appeared so. The fireworks were fantastic, and not only the kids were in awe; George always found a way to best himself, and a colourful figure of a flying Quidditch player in the sky was a way to do it.

"What about me?" George asked when he noticed Percy talking with his normal voice.

"You could use the voice a little longer," Angelina said smirking.

"Awww! Angelina!"

The cleaning came next, and everybody began to pick up the remains of the party. Ginny and Angelina went inside to help with the kitchen, and when Hermione found herself alone with Ron and Harry she took her chance.

She dragged them both to one side of the tent trying to see if anybody was watching; it appeared as if it was only Bill who noticed, but he continued talking with his father and George as they picked up what was left of the fireworks.

"Do you know?" she asked Harry on a low voice.

"Know what?" he asked surprised.

Hermione then turned to look at her husband, "Have you told him?"

Ron was equally surprised, but after a moment he understood what she meant, he shook his head.

His wife let out a heavy sigh, turning to Harry, "Look, this is very sensible information. It shouldn't be passed around, and I didn't want to worry Ginny or the others."

"Hermione, you're scaring me. What is it?" Harry said looking at Ron, confused.

"There's... something at the Ministry right now, not even Kingsley knows about it, but I'm afraid that whoever attacked Azkaban might. I know because I've been working with some Unspeakables; they looked for me after my speech on the Time Turners and..." she said hurrying the words out of her mouth.

"Unspeakables and Time Turners?... Wait, they talked to you?"

Hermione sighed, she looked pretty nervous, "Nobody knows about it, they only asked a few questions and not even in person; I know very little of the device. All I do know is that it is more powerful than a Time Turner; not sure how it works but it was made to understand Time itself and can make time travel work for more than a few hours. Look it was not planned for that, but I have made a few calculations... I think that with a misuse or mistake that device could make someone travel years to the future, or to the past, I'm really not sure."

"Years?"

"Don't look at me, I asked the same questions," Ron answered the stares his best mate was throwing at him.

"You know what this means? This can go back to the war! It could alter time! The very outcome of the war!"

Harry looked serious. "I understand what this could cause, but I'm still not entirely sure how this could reach the wrong ears."

Silence fell on the three of them; Harry looked troubled as he moved his sight between his oldest friends. "If I get this correctly... you are implying that an Unspeakable could be... giving away information?" Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well you got one at the Auror Office; they could get an Unspeakable too. It might even be the same person you are looking for."

"It's not the same, Hermione; people don't even know the identities of the Unspeakables; this would need even more inside people than Voldemort ever had. If this were true... then... I can't even measure the impact on the Ministry," Harry tried to argue.

"It is possible."

"Do you have any proof?"

Ron threw Hermione a sad look; he knew everything were merely guesses. Above them a cloud was passing by, and for while they were covered in the sober silence of the dark.

"No, but... We didn't have this... this device at the Department of Mysteries during the previous attacks. Previous attacks weren't even as successful for them as this was. I-I have a bad feeling, and it is not about if this is probable or not; it's about the impact of what could happen if they do know."

It was obvious she lost Harry at '_No'_.

Harry exchanged some weird looks with Ron. "I understand, I really do, but..." he sighed, "I don't know Hermione..."

Ron was looking at his concerned wife, and all he wanted to do was to be able to put all of her worries and problems away. "Look mate, why don't we keep an eye open? Just in case," he said to his friend.

His black haired friend didn't look sure; but he nodded. "I guess it won't hurt, especially with the new arrangements."

"What new arrangements?"

"Redfern wants us to stand guard at the Ministry every night for the next week; apparently someone convinced him that St Mungo's and Diagon Alley already have too many wands. He says he needed his best men on the place with less aurors."

Whatever Hermione planned to get from that conversation; it was surely not this, "Less aurors?"

Harry nodded. "Don't worry, they would be mad if they thought on attacking the Ministry; we might have less wands, but the defences on that place are impenetrable. I would have personally preferred to be on St Mungo's; it would be very bad if they hit there." He obviously didn't look happy with the decision.

"But- the rat?"

"If he exists, he doesn't know about those defences. Everything was changed after the attack, and things are stronger than ever; very few people know about them. Even if they could come to know about them, it would require a lot of strength to go fast through those defences. They obviously don't have those numbers from what I've heard."

Hermione didn't look at ease, and for some reason Ron was getting a very bad feeling too. Besides, he was not very excited about having the night shift either.

Nothing more was said about that. Harry was Redfern's right hand, and he had a lot of things on his mind; maybe he was right and things were under control. However, when Ron saw Hermione more concerned than ever he couldn't keep from worrying too.

He kissed her softly. "It's alright. I know how to take care of myself, and with me around, Harry will be safe too."

Hermione gave him a weak smile.

Everything was okay; Ron had to believe that. Life was perfect. They had beaten Voldemort, and there was no way that they could face something worse at the Ministry. Soon they would be laughing about it and thinking about having a new Weasley kid themselves. Harry and Ron were trained aurors, experienced, two of the best in the entire country. Everything was okay.


	3. The Black Memorial

**Thanks to Ana-DaughterOfHades again, my trusted reviewer.**

* * *

><p>As usual Ron had a dreamless sleep, but this time it was not as long as he would have wanted.<p>

The redhead man woke up groaning at the endless twinkling and whizzing sounds below his head. Everything else was dark.

"Ron, Ron," came the sleepy low voice of his wife.

"Err -at?" Ron mumbled without opening his eyes or even taking his cheek away from the pillow.

"It's time; Come on get up," she said.

Slowly, Ron raised his head from the bed and slightly opened his eyes. The blinking light under his pillow hit him hard. "Stupid alarm," he grumbled grabbing the source of the light and shutting it off. It was his wand.

His first impulse was to fall back into bed, but his wife stopped him; her hair was bushier after sleeping, still, Ron always told her how beautiful she looked just like that.

"Come on Ron, I told you to go to bed earlier, didn't I?" she said. "Are you hungry? I'll make something quick."

The mention of food seemed to bring Ron back; he turned around and gave her a weak smile. "I hate night shifts"

"This is your first one; now get up you don't want to get late." She stood up, before leaving bed she moved towards Ron and gave him a sweet kiss on the tip of the lips. The young man smiled and caressed her cheek.

Hermione put a warm coat over her nightgown and walked out of the room, trying to untangle her bushy hair a little. Ron sat heavily on his side of the bed; he was rubbing his face furiously with both hands, trying to stay awake.

It was a big bedroom with a lot of space to walk around. The bed directly faced the door and had small nightstands on either side of it. There was also a dressing table and a huge wardrobe, but the first thing that always caught Ron's attention was the slim bookcase next to the door. He couldn't understand why Hermione needed it; she had tons of old books in her office, and even when she said that it was only light reading for the nights, Ron knew perfectly well she also had a lot of heavy things to read in that nightstand of hers.

The decoration was slightly orange, nowhere near as orange as his old room at the Burrow though. Hermione didn't allow any Quidditch posters in the bedroom either, but he had found place for them in other parts of the house.

Once Ron met his wife at the table he was fully dressed and ready for work. She was still looking nervous.

"So you are going to keep an eye open for anything odd?" she asked when she put a plate with toasts in front of him.

Ron nodded. "We promised, didn't we? Everything will be fine Hermione; the only stories I have heard about the night shifts are dead boring."

"Well boring is good."

At that moment the fireplace burst into green flames; Ron and Hermione barely turned their heads to look at it.

"Hey, thought to give you a wake up call." Harry's voice echoed throughout the house as his face appeared between the green flames, right inside the fireplace.

"As you can see I'm up and ready to go."

"Hermione's doing, isn't it?" A smile was visible on Harry's image.

"Oy!"

Ron's wife was grinning. "More like that waking up spell than me. Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Hermione, hope you get a good rest; you still have a few hours left," Harry's head said and then turned to look at Ron. "See you in five?"

Ron nodded, and the green flames disappeared at once; the fireplace was back to normal. The redhead man gulped what was left of his toast and stood up.

"Take care ok?"

"I don't have anything to worry about; I would be more scared if I had to deal with those shifty bureaucrats you see every day."

"Your brother is one of them you know."

"Well more reason to be careful," said Ron smiling, he leaned close to her and kissed her tenderly. "Love you." Hermione's answer was a warm smile.

At the chimney, Ron grabbed a handful of floo powder and turned to his wife. "It's great Mum always has some extra around, bet the main entrance is dead cold at this hour."

Hermione rolled her eyes with a smile. "Next time don't forget it."

With that, Ron threw the powder into the fireplace, and the green flames were back, covering him entirely. "The Ministry of Magic," he said out loud, and he saw the image of his wife slowly fading away through the flames. As she disappeared from his vision, Ron got a weird feeling; he had seen her saying goodbye to him plenty of times, but this was not the same.

His wife's face reflected fear and worry, and for some reason Ron got the instant sensation that he shouldn't have left her.

It was too late for call in sick though, and soon the image before Ron changed.

Ron hadn't seen the Ministry's Atrium so empty in years; it didn't even look like the same place anymore. The whole black wooden floor was visible and it had no signs of the tons of people that were surely going to walk over it in a few hours. The peacock blue ceiling filled with its golden symbols matched in some twisted way with the floor too; it gave a dismal glow to the whole scene. Ron got the feeling that only sinister things could happen in there, especially since it didn't look much different now from how he saw it at the end of his fifth year at Hogwarts.

The monument at the middle of the hall was different this time though.

It was an enormous landmark; two big walls of polished black obsidian met at an open angle facing the entrance of the hall; only a small gap separated them from one another. They were filled with golden engravings all across their black surface, and even when they were not entirely readable from the distance, Ron knew perfectly well what they said. Those were the names of all the people who had died in the war, or at least all of those they knew about.

The structure had been placed shortly after the war ended, to remember everyone what they had lost. It was named _Memory of Our Fallen Ones_, or something like that, but everyone just called it _The Black Memorial._

The name gave it a sense of fatality that really fit with its purpose.

A person was standing in front of the memorial; he was far away and was giving his back to Ron, but it couldn't be anybody else.

Harry was a few feet away from the black curtains, admiring them with a blank expression. Ron could understand him; he must have passed by it a thousand times now, but there was not a single time in which he didn't stop to stare at it.

Not even when Ron walked to his side. Harry looked away from the monument; his green eyes kept moving to a lot of different places on it. Ron knew those places and the people who had owned those names, but even so, his blue eyes were always attracted to one single spot at the lower left side of the right wall.

Ron sighed, thinking on his brother one more time.

"You know," Harry suddenly said taking Ron by surprise, "sometimes I feel like they are here and not at Godric's Hollow."

Ron was stunned as he saw Harry staring at the base of the Memorial; there a pedestal in the middle of the two walls was holding a golden plaque. Above it, at the small portion where the two walls met, two names seemed to catch more attention than any other.

The Potters have been dead for over twenty years now; Ron knew that Harry remembered them only in dreams. They died defending Harry when Voldemort tried to kill him as a baby; it was a vile action which ultimately resulted in the evil wizard's downfall. It was that event that had marked all of Harry's life; he was and will always be _the Chosen One_,_ the Boy-Who-Lived._

"I am not following you mate," Ron said quite puzzled.

"I mean I know they are in Godric's Hollow; there I feel something I don't feel at any other place. I really connect to them. It is as if all of this never really happened," the black haired man started; then he moved his round shaped glasses a little and continued.

"But," he said with a grim gesture, "this is what they always were for me, and for everybody else. It's very hard sometimes to think about them without remembering him."

"You have other memories mate, pictures, things from the vault, stuff," Ron answered sadly.

"I know, but still, that's what they are, things. They should be here; they would have loved to meet their grandchild."

Ron was not very good at this; however, he had lost someone too; he knew what to say. "They are mate, somewhere..." he said, putting an arm over his old friend and smiling. "Guess you don't have to think too hard to pick a name now."

Harry smiled, then after a long pause he sobered again. It was as if a shadow had returned to his thoughts.

"There are problems Ron; some of our guys think they had tracked messages. They believe an attack on St Mungo's is a reality."

Ron seemed shocked. "St Mungo's?"

Harry nodded. "I didn't want to say it at the party for obvious reasons. Some believe it's only a stupid threat without real intentions; others say that it is real, but that it won't be successful. Either way we have to be careful."

"You are joking, right? Why are we even here then?" Ron tried to look back at the fireplaces, wondering how much time it would take them to reach St Mungo's.

"I had an argument with Marcus about it. I told him I wanted to be in St Mungo's too, but he seems confident everything was going be alright. He wants us here to coordinate, and he really said he wants his best wands where he has less numbers."

For a moment Ron didn't know what to say; with every second that passed he was feeling more certain that something was not right. "What if it's a smoke screen, to hit somewhere else."

"I know where you're going."

"Hermione's always right mate; I have a bad feeling"

"I do too Ron, but I am Redfern's most trusted man. I cannot ask him for more men right now when an attack is feared at St Mungo's," Harry answered; he seemed to be having an inner conflict. "What if I ask for a few men back and then they attack there? How would that turn out?"

Ron didn't know what to say. His friend was right, and he wouldn't want to be in his position, taking decisions like that had never been Ron's thing. The redhead sighed raising his eyes to the blue ceiling; the whole place felt cold and so void of answers. Whoever designed the Ministry of Magic should have thought about making it less sombre, maybe some orange would have helped.

The two friends continued walking towards the building; there they greeted a few aurors that were patrolling. Everything seemed to be in order. It only made Ron more uneasy; it was way too calm. Ever since he put his first foot in the Atrium he got a sensation, something that told him he was not supposed to be there.

After walking through most of the Atrium, a tall, muscular man approached them. He was in his forties and had a tough blond beard, proper of a man of action.

"Nice to have you two around," he said.

"It will only be a few days, but we're glad to be here too," Harry answered. "Any news?"

The man shook his head. "Everything's calm, as always."

"Good to know Turner."

Harry and Ron were already heading to the left wing of the building to check on the defences there when the man called them back. "Eh Potter?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, I was just wondering... have they found him yet?"

"Who? The rat?" Ron asked while Turner nodded.

Harry looked grim. "I'm afraid we don't know anything about that yet. It could be anyone; it could also be possible there was no rat and that the attackers found a different way of getting that information."

"The boys are saying that Pucey, Smith, and Leavestone were quite nervous during the audiences," said Turner as if it was a casual comment.

Ron was a bit surprised, but by the look Harry gave the man, it was clear that his friend was pretty much aware of those rumours. "That's mere gossip; nervousness is not proof of anything."

Turner looked serious; Ron knew he had friends at Azkaban and that he wanted to see things solved quickly; Ron himself shared that opinion, but he knew that Harry wouldn't go after someone if he wasn't sure that someone was guilty.

"They should use Veritaserum; that could clear things up faster than you can say Quidditch," Ron said.

"You know we cannot use that without real proof. Besides we don't have the resources to put everyone in the office under the serum."

Both Ron and Turner nodded; the man with the blond beard continued on his way.

As they moved forward, Ron glanced at his best friend; Harry had changed a lot after the war. His black haired friend was always the one making the decisions, but he was different now. He had acquired a very strong confidence on himself, and everyone saw him as a natural leader, even aurors a lot older than they were. There were even some rumours putting Harry as Head of the Office once Redfern retired, and if that happened then he would be the youngest person ever holding that post.

Ron smiled at the thought; his friend was perfect for the job. It would have to happen eventually, if not after Redfern then later. Of course Ron will be there being the right-hand of the Head of the Auror Office; that was not a small feat either for a twenty-three year old lad; he might even get a raise and have more serious thoughts about increasing the family.

At that very moment Ernie MacMillan came rushing to them.

"Harry! Harry! You need to come."

"What's happening?" Harry asked.

"When we got here tonight we saw the door of your office opened; there was a note addressed to you on the desk."

Ron and Harry exchanged nervous looks. "Did you bring it with you?"

Their old classmate shook his head. "We couldn't take it; there's surely a spell on it."

"Let's go."

Moments later they rushed into the huge building up to the Level Two; once they were there they went around the corner of the access lift to the Auror Office. The place was filled with empty cubicles now. The maps and pictures in the walls seemed to be the only occupants of the room; even so, when Harry and Ron stepped in, a couple of aurors joined them announcing the same thing about that note on Harry's desk.

They went to the back of the place where the personal offices were located; all of them were closed except for Harry's. Inside two other aurors were trying to discover what spell was placed on that mysterious note.

"Any luck?" Ron asked as he stood in front of Harry's desk; there was a picture of his sister not far away.

"No sir," answered an auror who seemed to be only a couple of years younger than Ron.

"Who was the first one to see it?" Harry asked.

"I was," said another young auror. It seemed like they didn't only have less numbers but also the less experienced ones.

"Anything strange?"

"No sir, everything is in order."

"Did you see anyone leaving?"

"I crossed Adrian Pucey by the lift. He seemed quite scared," he answered, and Ron turned to look at Harry nervously. His friend was surely finding it suspicious but not enough to blame Pucey.

"Well let's get this done," Harry said.

"Wait mate! Are you grabbing that? It has trap written all over it."

"Calm down Ron, surely the guys already performed all the basic detection spells, and if anything happens I'm in a room filled with qualified aurors, right?" Everyone nodded hesitantly.

Ron seemed doubtful. "I don't know Harry."

"It could be important. I won't wake up a curse-breaker to deal with a sticky spell."

Without waiting a second more Harry did a couple of detection spells himself, and since he didn't find anything odd, he tried to lift the note. At the touch of his fingers the note seemed willing to be raised. Nothing appeared to be wrong with it while Harry took it.

Slowly Ron's friend moved his green eyes across the paper, and the colour abandoned his face; his eyes had grown big.

"What?" Ron asked, but Harry didn't answer until he finished reading and put the paper on his pocket.

Harry turned to look at Ernie. "How many wands do we got?"

"Err not sure." Ernie seemed taken by surprise. "Maybe fifteen in the building, another fifteen outside."

"Keep seven in the building, place them at the windows with the best view of the Atrium. At my signal, if I send it, call Redfern to bring back-up. This could still be fake. The rest, send them with me to the Atrium," Harry said.

"Harry..." Ron asked dumbfounded.

"Come with me," Harry said, exiting the office. "Ernie, you're in charge inside here. Remember, windows and main entrance primary points," he yelled on his way out while a very pale Ernie nodded.

Seven men to defend all entrance points and a few windows of a building as big as that one? Was he serious?

"Care to tell me what the hell was on that bloody paper?!" Ron said once they were on the lift.

"A warning, of an attack here."

Ron was surprised only slightly. "But you said the defences..."

"If the informant is saying the truth they won't matter; we will have over fifty enemies coming our way through those fireplaces," Harry looked dead serious.

After Ron recovered, he talked again, "It was Pucey, wasn't it? That prick!"

"I don't know; it was not signed; it looked like it was written by the Azkaban attackers' informant. He knows details about it that most people don't know."

"So, do you believe it?" Ron continued in a lower tone.

"It doesn't matter; it is a threat, and we should be prepared, especially after what happened."

Then the lift ringed, and they got to the Atrium level. Outside seven or eight young aurors were waiting for them, surely sent by Ernie. "Blimey! Ernie is quicker than I expected. These guys gave me a scare," Ron mumbled.

Harry give him a half smile, and they all went out of the building with a fast pace. Ron turned back as they moved towards the aurors on the Atrium; he saw Ernie's people already moving to the windows; he really wished this was nothing but a false alarm. Boring was good, that was what Hermione had said.

If this was true then it couldn't end well, thirty men against fifty or more, not well at all.

"What's this? What's happening?" Turner, the leader of the Atrium guys, asked when he saw them.

"Probably nothing, but we need to be prepared. I have received a threat of an attack."

"What? Are you sure Potter? Where?"

"Here. Now. I put people on the windows; prepare barricades facing the entrance," Harry answered.

"This is madness!"

Then, all of a sudden, green flames erupted from all the entrance fireplaces at once with a bursting sound. Turner seemed shocked, so it was Harry who raised his voice. Without losing time, Ron and the seven guys sent by Ernie started lifting barricades.

"Everyone, listen to me, I need all of the Atrium defences by my side. Now." Harry's magnified voice echoed.

The aurors scattered throughout the Atrium seemed confused by both the green flames and Harry's voice; still they did as they were asked.

"Who is coming? Is it the morning yet?" one said surprised.

Ron didn't turn to Harry; he kept raising the barricades as the first dark figure came out of one of the fireplaces. Ron was sweating and trying to remember the last time he saw Hermione, just minutes ago. She was in her nightgown saying goodbye to him through the green flames of his chimney.

"This is not a drill, prepare your wands but don't fire yet." Harry's voice continued flooding the Ministry's Atrium, "Defence position. I repeat, don't attack until I give the order. Those might be enemies. This is not a drill."


	4. The Ambush

**Once more thanks to Ana-DaughterofHades for the help checking this chap.**

* * *

><p>All hell broke loose in a second.<p>

Moments before, Harry was asking to wait, to not attack until he gave the order; then the intruders entered the Atrium and holding fire didn't make sense anymore. The masked men had arrived without asking questions, shooting all kinds of curses and hexes even before putting their second foot on the ground.

"The Barricades!" Harry shouted tackling Turner to the ground as a purple beam passed just inches above them. Turner only thanked him with a weak nod, his eyes were wide. It was obvious it had been a long time since the blond man had any kind of action.

"Almost there!" Ron yelled as he raised big stone slabs from the left wing of the Ministry towards the centre, in the direction of the Black Memorial. A young auror named Parker was helping him.

When they finished, Ron noticed that the three aurors who were doing the right wing barricades were still halfway through it, so he went there to help them. Once they finished, the redheaded man moved his face around trying to understand the state of things under the blasting sounds and the spells racing above their heads. It was not good.

Harry was on the centre, shooting stunners from one side of the Memorial. He was pushing his forces to strike at different weak points of the attackers. With a quick glimpse, Ron saw a few masked men down thanks to Harry's tactics, but that was not very inspiring after looking at three aurors down on their side of the Atrium. There were not many of them, and each wand was pure gold.

One of the aurors on the floor had a look on his eyes that Ron had seen before, the face of the killing curse. He gritted his teeth and gripped his wand more tightly. These aurors were very young, some of them still in training, barely out of Hogwarts he was sure.

"Ron? Are you done? I need you on the other flank!" Harry yelled. Ron only nodded and bolted towards the other side of the Memorial, commanding his own share of young recruits.

It was madness. Everything was so dark that only the masks and the multicolour lights flying over the Atrium were visible. It was like a twisted version of George's fireworks exploding from one side to the other. Dozens and dozens of spells fired from each side even before the previous round hit their targets.

"There! Over there too!" he was yelling to his recruits, "Parker! To your right!"

"Yes sir."

At that moment, and without Ron seeing it coming, Raymond Turner fell to the floor lifeless.

Cold sweat dripped from Ron's forehead, as memories from darker times came to him. Almost all of the young aurors were petrified in fear, with wide eyes and trembling hands. Fortunately though, Parker was not one of them.

"Don't get distracted!" Harry was yelling hysterically, "We still have a battle here!"

Ron could understand why the new guys were distracted; all they had done so far were drills, and this was a real battle. No, not a battle actually, a slaughter; that was what it was. A bloody slaughter.

They were outnumbered; probably one to three, Ron guessed.

"Oh Hermione," Ron mumbled thinking of his wife, and the last thing he said to her when he left her barely an hour ago. Regret hit him at the same time he kept throwing curses towards the fireplaces. He should have hugged her more; he should have told her how much he loved her at least one more time.

She was right after all, as she always was. It was always going to be the Ministry; St Mungo's was surely a distraction. Ron wondered how would she react when she found out about the attack on the Ministry, would it be soon? Or would it wait until the morning? Who would tell her? Would she read it in the Prophet? Would Ron still be alive? Would Harry?

Ron's heart shrank by the weight of those questions. It hurt more thinking about her finding out than about his own hopeless fate.

"Who the hell are they!?" a brown haired bloke at Harry's side shouted in desperation, "Is this about Azkaban? We need back up..."

"Shut up and keep firing Bernard!" another lad answered him.

They were now below twenty fighting wands, and the number was decreasing rapidly.

"Bollocks! There are way too many! We won't make it!"

"Focus! Remember your training!" Harry shouted shaking a few lads around.

Everyone was already waiting for their final moments when a few lights rained down on the enemies. Ron turned back and he saw a few aurors from the Ministry's windows. Ernie MacMillan was among them.

"It was about time! About bloody time Ernie!" Ron yelled laughing and resting a bit with his back against the Memorial.

From their high position, Ernie's guys were able to put down a lot of masked men pretty quickly; giving Harry, Ron, and the rest of the aurors at the Atrium a healthy space to breathe.

Harry and Ron got closer to talk about their plans and where it was best to hit. They also took the few seconds to reenervate a couple of aurors who were only stunned next to them.

Although, there were grim stares too when they recognized the faces of the fallen ones.

"Okay mate, you should take the right wing," said Harry, "there's a weak spot near the centre."

"Already saw it."

Harry nodded, "Let's go before Ernie gets hit. The surprise should have passed by now and-"

BLAST

Whatever Harry had tried to say was lost because at that very moment the whole Black Memorial exploded into a thousand pieces. Chunks of black obsidian rained down on them, covering the entire Atrium. Ron thought the rocks were never going to stop falling.

"Bloody Hell! What the hell's going on?!" he yelled. Ron was shielded of the main explosion by one piece of rock that remained intact, but he was still strongly thrown to his side. When he raised his head, a fine black dust was covering his red hair.

It was as if time had stopped and suddenly he couldn't hear the curses, any of them. There was only a buzzing sound and clouds of black dust.

Ron coughed as he found shelter behind one big rock, and as the dust cleared he was able to recognize figures on the floor. Some of them soon started to move and stand up slowly; others didn't move and Ron didn't know if they would ever move again. He couldn't see Harry but that was mostly because large pieces of black obsidian now separated both sides. He convinced himself that his brother-in-law was okay, he had to be, just thinking about surviving and having to give that news to Ginny tore him apart.

A new round of spells were fired, as the enemies tried to take advantage of the confusion. Fortunately, a great number of protegos were raised, Ron's included. He hoped they could shield not only themselves but the guys on the floor too.

Then Ron felt dread setting in again as the first guy from the windows fell all the way to the floor. The masked men were aiming to the Ministry's walls too. How long until they took down the few wands Ernie had up there? Those men were what kept them alive at the Atrium.

All of the world twirled in Ron's eyes. Blasting lights of all the colours of the rainbow hitting against solid but weakened shields, debris scattered around the Atrium, chunks of concrete falling from the Ministry's window, shouts of pain and mourn. Ron felt himself back to that horrible day. He saw pieces of Hogwarts gargoyles on every chunk of black obsidian, he saw killing curses on every spell, he saw Fred's face on every fallen auror.

"Death Eaters, they must be Death Eaters!" he mumbled to himself, and putting a knee on the ground, he started answering the fire.

The enemy didn't expect that because they lost three masked men with Ron's first blow. A smile appeared on his face when he saw the young aurors following him. Parker was still there, and he even gave Ron a thumbs up.

A few feet away there was a piece of the Memorial that still had most of its letters, the golden engraving shining. Ron thought that it spelled Weasley and that was what caught his attention; however, he could be seeing things too.

Ron was desperate; he couldn't put aside his thoughts about Hermione, Ginny, or the rest of his family. Harry's child could be growing up without a father, like Teddy; it was very hard to deal with, but Ron was not seeing any way out. He was feeling that it was only matter of time after all. They had fought before but never like this, not since the war, and still then they had more defences. They were going to lose... there was no other outcome.

A lonely tear streamed down of Ron's cheek, taking the black powder with it on its way to his chin. All that black dust felt like coal and the Atrium like a mine without an exit.

"Ron!... Wh-Where are you?!" Harry yelled from the other side of the Memorial.

Even when his best friend's presence didn't change much, he couldn't stop himself from smiling, "Right here mate, holding this side!" he yelled back.

"Okay... keep doing just that!" Harry huffed.

If they were going down, they were going together, and putting up a good fight.

Out of nowhere, Harry reached him, crawling behind the debris. His whole face was filled with black dust too, except for his eyes which were shielded by round shaped glasses. The right half of his glasses seemed broken, but Harry made a quick reparo and turned to look at him, still throwing stunners at the enemy.

"There are so many of them. I think I took a few of them down but..." he said. Harry was having a hard time breathing.

"I know," Ron stopped him.

After a short pause, Ron took a deep breath; he was quite shaken too. "We have to do something mate; we can't die here," Ron said. He was thinking of Hermione, surely Harry was thinking of Ginny, and the rest of the aurors of their own families. No one was expecting to die when they left their homes that day. He thought about that job George offered him a while ago, maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing to consider it if they made it out of this alive.

"We need back up."

"What about Ernie? You said..."

"I gave him the sign as soon as I could," Harry interrupted, "not sure if he has had time to give the notice; curses are raining on him too, and if they abandon their positions even for a short time we could be doomed down here. Also, he might not have a fireplace nearby."

"Blimey, guess we are really toasted, eh?" Ron answered with a half hearted smile; he shot an orange spell that hit one masked man on the far left of the attackers.

"We need more wands. We need to let Redfern know, and we need Kingsley too. We need... a distraction," said Harry.

Harry turned his head to both sides, analysing the situation, and Ron followed him with the look. They had just over ten aurors left, against thirty or forty of the enemies still standing and firing.

"Wands ready! I'm going to make us a distraction!" his friend yelled, shaking a bit the dust out of his face; the lightning bolt scar became visible again.

"Harry, wh-what the hell are you doing!... ARE YOU NUTS!?" Ron said as Harry stood up.

Ron tried to pull him down, but from his place on the floor it was useless; soon the shouts came and the spells against them decreased for a moment. The enemy was surprised too.

"It's Potter!" a distant voice echoed in a foreign accent.

However, before the masked men could react, a white and blue light came out of Harry's wand, brightening the whole Atrium.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry Potter's voice echoed throughout the entire hall, and a massive stag raced towards the enemy; it was even bigger than Ron. It surely scared them.

"NOW!"

Ron didn't have to ask; he just raised his body a little and motioned for every auror to do the same behind him. "EVERYONE! NOW IS OUR CHANCE!"

The whole defence raised at the same time, firing endless curses, and so many enemies fell that Ron could actually hear them hitting against the floor. There were still many of them who were on the last lines that weren't hit or that found cover against the fireplaces, but Ron was sure that the move was amazing. More than ten masked men were down with the surprise blow, and not even one of the aurors were hit.

Harry, Ron, and the entire auror group dropped back quickly, dodging the green lights that flew above them. They were agitated but smiling.

"Great move Potter!" the Bernard guy said.

"That was unexpected... brilliant!" one of the few elder aurors added; he was almost forty and with a light brown hair that went all the way to his shoulders.

Harry didn't answer, and a moment later more surprise gasps were heard from the enemies. Ron raised an eyebrow, but they weren't left with any doubt much longer since Harry's majestic stag was soon standing in front of them. It had returned.

With a soft voice and barely looking at the figure, Harry spoke quickly, "Marcus, we have a situation. We need all the wands we can get. We are under attack at the Atrium of the Ministry. Outnumbered, we won't hold on much longer, quickly, help." He sighed the last part then turned to look at the stag again. "Go."

The silvery stag left looking for its receiver.

The enemies growled as the silver animal crossed through them once again. They were furious, Ron heard them shuffling closer, advancing. The excitement of beating a bunch of them in the surprise attack came down again with the lack of hope in Harry's message.

"Don't let them get closer!" Ron yelled.

As the aurors resumed the fight, Ron turned to look at Harry who was still sitting against the floor breathing heavily. His friend appeared to be drained; that was the biggest patronus Ron had ever seen him do.

"Harry?... Harry?... Harry!" Ron yelled, and finally Harry turned to look at him, "Are you ok?"

The black haired man nodded, and he turned over the enemy once more, he kept throwing curses. Ron did the same; he wanted to ask his friend to rest but there was no point in that. This was it, and they had to throw everything they got. Maybe if they were lucky they would hold long enough for Redfern to arrive.

"Take that you ruddy... masked... pricks!"

Harry then turned to a couple of young aurors, "You two, what are your names?"

"William Hill"

"Martin Brown, sir"

Ron turned to look at Harry as he spoke again, "Fine, you have done an excellent job so far," he said, "I now need you to go back to the building and reinforce Ernie; he has been losing men too. Find a fireplace on your way there, send notice in case the patronus was not enough. We will cover you."

The two recruits exchanged scared looks, and Ron understood them. It was not about being caught in the fire because they were already way too close to the main gates; they had been retreating a lot. No, this was about leaving a weak force with two less men. Even so, Ron could see what Harry meant; the spells from the windows were coming less and less frequently, and a wand up there could put more people down than from ground.

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem like we can lose two wands here!" Ron said.

"We will be losing either way. The only way to hold them back is having more people on the high levels"

"I understand that Harry, but how much time would it take them to get there. If we let them go we might be down more quickly than you can say There's the snitch!" Ron said only to make sure that this was what Harry wanted.

Harry thought about it for a second, "Do it! If help doesn't come, two more wands will make no difference! Besides I'm planning on retreating everybody to the building already; these rocks give good shield but soon it won't matter. They're almost here."

Martin and William nodded; everyone looked grim. It seemed like no one was going to make it.

"Harry can you and the guys put some fire on the left flank?" Ron asked.

"Are you going to give us a chance?"

"I have an idea"

Ron crawled towards the right side and cast his own patronus, a Jack Russell terrier. It was in no way as big as Harry's, but it brought the required attention from the masked men to make them all turn to him. As Ron thought, the enemies were not surprised this time, and they turned to shoot at Ron as soon as they saw the light, thinking that it was Harry. Ron was just able to throw himself to the floor in time. Harry and the other aurors took the opportunity and showered their left side with stunners as Ron tried to shield himself from the enemy's attack aimed at him.

"That was reckless, but it worked, good job," said Harry once Ron crawled back.

The move slowed the masked men down, but they were getting closer. They had already passed the memorial, and the aurors were just a few feet from the main door now. They didn't have much time left, and Harry was surely about to give the order to retreat.

At that moment, all kinds of shouts echoed, and red light flooded the Atrium from the fireplaces. Apparently the reinforcements had arrived, but they had a hard time against the cloaked figures once the surprise was over; the floo entrances didn't give them much cover.

"Merlin! Are those the reinforcements?" one young lad asked in a good shock.

Harry answered smiling "Sort of, I think I recognize a few from Redfern's and Kingsley's personal staff. Not enough to be the proper reinforcements though. Redfern must be waking some guys"

"I don't care who they are," Ron added laughing, "For me those are reinforcements! Take that you bloody Death Eaters!"

The new auror force gave Harry's and Ron's group precious seconds to move forward. They needed better positions; now that reinforcements were here they didn't need to retreat and there was a chance of grabbing the attackers under cross fire. Harry remained at the center, just behind the remains of the black memorial while Ron raced to the left.

And they attacked back. The enemies, who for a moment had been surprised, were now confused and without an obvious shelter for the spells coming from both sides.

Ron smiled, and when he turned to look at Harry he seemed more hopeful too. They were winning; he couldn't believe it.

Parker was beyond excitement. He as well as all of them had thought that they were doomed, and now everything seemed to be moving forward. Ron even sighed thinking he was going to be able to see his wife again.

"Weasley sir, we are winning," the young auror laughed loudly, "I didn't think I was going to say this but-"

He didn't say anything else because Parker fell to the floor without any life left in his eyes. Ron was shocked, and as he turned back he saw the rain of curses coming down, but this time aimed at them. Ernie was not there. The Ministry's windows were firing at them.


	5. The Worst Place to Return to

**Once again, thanks to Ana-DaughterofHades for the help reviewing this chap.**

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><p>One strike after another the green light fell upon them. It looked as if it came very slowly, one shy gleam at a time, staining the darkness like a storm of green spears. Cold and certain.<p>

"_Protego Maxima!_" Ron heard Harry's desperate voice resonating all around, but he couldn't place him at any point in particular.

The glistening blue unfolded above the crushed rocks like a delicate sheet, falling smoothly over their heads. It covered a large surface, but as it extended away from Harry, the strength of the barrier decreased. Ron, who was on the other side of the battle, had to raise his own shield. He did it without even thinking, trembling.

Silence covered them all, or maybe not, but it didn't matter because either way, Ron couldn't hear a thing, only his own heart beating roughly against his chest.

When the sound finally reached Ron's ears, it came all at once, violently. It was not the sound of yells or shouts though, nothing like that. The yells were far away, at the fireplaces, in a different world. What Ron heard was the sound of little green drops hitting the blue curtains and the sound of corpses falling to the floor with a quiet thud. Almost in the same rhythm.

By the size of it, Harry had surely covered himself with his _protego maxima_, maybe even one or two aurors more. Aside from Ron and Harry, only one other shield was raised close to the redhead. Three shields, three to five people under them. Everybody else was on the floor.

The green light and the blue curtains faded and Ron heard that little voice in his head reminding him of his training, reminding him of the war. "Cover yourself!" shouted the voice in his head.

Ron turned around; most of the rocks and black debris were too small to hide him, and the Ministry windows were brightening with green again.

"Weasley! Over here!"

Ron turned desperately, and a few feet away he found the auror who had made the third shield; an experienced one, she was probably in her thirties. Ron knew her face; she was named Helena Davies or something like it. The black haired woman had blue eyes that were urging him to hurry. She was covered under a golden sculpture of some old wizard that together with the debris made a decent shelter. Ron raced to her without thinking about it twice, his wand pulling out a shield as he moved.

Whoever the wizard depicted in that golden sculpture was, Ron promised himself to look up him in a book later.

He had a moment to breathe after the second round of killing curses ended. Harry was on the other side of the entrance to the building; there was a young blond auror with him who had surely survived due to his friend's shield. They were crouched under the biggest remains of the Black Memorial, totally covered in black dust.

Harry was moving his green eyes desperately, and, when he met Ron's, he gave a sigh of relief. The whole space separating them was filled with rocks and corpses, young Parker among them.

They couldn't let the sorrow overcome them though; this was not a drill, a distraction could make them be one of those bodies if they were not careful. They were not the same school lads who were surprised in the middle of the war anymore. They were trained aurors; they needed to be strong and leave the mourning for later. They had seen colleagues die before.

So, with great pain, both of them forced themselves to look away, towards the Ministry building. There they found the culprit.

Ernie was not on the windows, neither was Martin or William or any other bloke or gal who Ron knew. Almost twenty high spaces were used by cloaked figures and none by aurors. This was a trap hidden under a trap.

How did they get access to the fireplaces inside the Ministry? Very few offices got direct connections like those.

Ron was thinking of that suspicious note sent to Harry and the fact that it didn't mention that important detail when the yells came from behind him.

The auror reinforcements in the entrance of the Atrium had been hit by the surprise attack too. They were being wiped out by the green curses that kept flying down on them. Oddly enough, the curses were hitting masked men too, but the guys on the windows didn't seem to care.

A few of those curses were still trying to hit Ron and Harry, but their hideouts kept them safe for the time being. Ron wondered for how much longer.

"That was a close one," said Helena.

"A close one? Are you kidding me?! There's nothing closer than that," Ron answered breathing fast, "Thanks by the way."

"No problem sir, I got your back," she said smiling. It was weird hearing her calling him sir when he knew the woman was older than he was. He didn't have a high position in the Office but the fact that he was Harry's right hand always grab attention, besides he was a war hero.

His mind returned to the battlefield; it was difficult to know what to do next. They couldn't come out without being hit, and staying there was suicide as things were going.

"RON!" Harry's voice echoed suddenly through the madness that was the Atrium.

The redheaded man was surprised, but he quickly turned towards the place where his best mate was trying to avoid the curses. Harry was trying to tell him something; he was making gestures towards the Ministry building. Ron was confused; he had already seen the bad guys there... or Death Eaters... or Masked Men... or whoever the hell they were. Why did Harry want him to turn there again and risk himself getting hit?

Even so, he turned. It took him some time and a couple of dodged curses to realize what Harry tried to say. At one of the windows there was a man without a cloak analysing the fight, laughing wickedly down on the dying aurors. It was Dolohov.

So they were the same guys of Azkaban after all.

In what seemed like hours, they dodged and covered from all kind of hexes, many passing very close by. Ron knew that the real reinforcements would arrive eventually, but nothing guaranteed them that they would still be around to see that. At one point, he saw Dolohov leaving the window and moving inside of the building. There was something wrong with that; he knew it. Dolohov was not stupid enough to come down; why was he leaving the battle?

Ron knew the answer with his next thought. Dolohov was not here because of the battle; he wanted something else. It was all a set up to put them inside the building. Could it be the same thing that Hermione was worried about? That time- thing?

"RON! We need to follow him!" Harry yelled capturing his attention; apparently his black haired friend was thinking something alike.

The main door was near them, but running to it seemed like madness. They were only four.

Harry turned to his back where Ron noticed three or four aurors not that far away. They were not from their group; those were from Redfern's or Kingsley's guards. When the attack from the windows first came, they had scattered throughout the Atrium looking for shelter and a few had landed near them. Those aurors were not close enough to follow them to the door, but they could hear Harry. They were close enough to cover them.

A heavy sigh escaped from Ron; it seemed like a run to the Ministry's building was their plan after all. He let Helena know as Harry asked the scattered aurors to give them some time.

"On my signal!" Harry yelled to Ron starting to raise from the floor together with the blond lad, "NOW!"

And they ran. They ran faster than Ron remembered ever running. They ran from opposite sides of the battle field towards the building, through the main gates. They ran without even looking up, raising shields as they moved.

Fortunately, the guys in the back did a good job covering them. Big spells, not very powerful, but distracting enough to give them a chance.

Then they were in.

The entrance was empty, almost silent, no sign of a struggle. Ron turned to his back and he saw that outside the curses were still crashing down.

It was then that another wave of reinforcements arrived, the real ones, with the Head Auror leading them. That made Ron wonder how the cloaked figures planned to escape; it was obvious that the full muscle of the department was going to arrive sooner or later. They couldn't be that naive.

"Well about time," Helena said, and the blond guy, whose first name was Peter, gave a shaky nod.

Marcus Redfern must have woken the entire department and brought it here. Ron didn't know if the news had broke publicly already or if someone at the Office had let Hermione know by now. He hoped she was not that worried, even when she had every reason to be.

It seemed surreal to be apart from the fight now, especially after all the things they went through. Outside the new reinforcements were fighting the guys at the windows. They were clearly superior, but with the advantage of the high ground for Dolohov's men, it would take a while before Redfern could reach the door.

"So now what, sir?" Peter asked Harry. The blond guy must had thought that the run was useless. If they had only stayed at their places, Redfern would have reached them eventually.

Harry turned to look at Ron and took a while to answer. "Stay here with Helena," he said, "With the Head Auror, we have the Atrium already. Cover the lifts. If someone comes out of them, and you don't recognize who it is immediately, use stunners."

A worried look was exchanged between Helena and Peter. "Where are you going sir?" she asked, "There's no point in going up now; they will be defeated eventually. More aurors should arrive through the fireplaces in the high rank offices and force them here. If we all stay by the lifts we can catch them when they come down."

"You're right Helena, but we're not going up."

Confusion quickly spread across her face, "But then..."

Harry stopped her, "No questions, this is important," then he turned to Ron and made a gesture towards the lifts. The redheaded man nodded seriously; he knew what would come next.

They headed to Level 9 without saying another word until the lift stopped. They were still half covered in black dust. They raised their wands. "I told you that Hermione..."

"... is always right, I know," said Harry.

The lift doors opened with a creaky sound but there was no one there, only the path to the black door. Harry seemed to shiver. They didn't want to go there again, but they already had lost too much that night. What if Hermione was truly right? What if there was someone stealing something important at that moment? Important enough to make a huge distraction like this.

Ron sighed heavily, "If you had told me that we were coming back here years ago-"

"You wouldn't have believed me?" Harry tried to guess as they got closer.

"I would have stopped being your friend at that very moment," Ron corrected with a smirk.

Harry gave him a weak smile, then he moved his hand towards the black door. At the cold touch, he gulped.

The round room was exactly as Ron remembered. Black doors all around, handleless. The blue fire made things look even gloomier.

They were not intending to shut the door, but something happened. They heard steps and dodged a couple of purple lights. Seven men were coming to face them, and one of them was Dolohov.

"It has been some time Potter!" he said still throwing curses all around the small room.

Ron and Harry made the best to dodge them and fire back, but they were on the open and the space didn't allow for a lot of movement. Still, Harry was able to throw a stunner as Ron bind the legs of another masked men. The two cloaked attackers were down even before Dolohov reached the circular room.

Dolohov and the other four were already in when Ron heard the entrance door slam. He knew what was coming.

The seven people in the circular room didn't stop firing as the walls spun around them. Ron was even able to hit one directly on the chest, throwing him against the moving walls.

It was turning difficult to aim when the movement stopped. Just then, Ron saw a bloody-minded curse coming his way; even when the redhead managed to pull his shield up he was thrown backwards with great strength. It happened that there was a door behind him, and Ron opened it with his back as he flew through it.

"Owch!" he groaned as he hit hard against the floor.

"RON!" Harry's yells on the distance echoed, but he was too busy to help. Ron saw his friend casting a rope out of thin air and then pulling a masked men out of combat with it. Harry was also dueling Dolohov at the same time.

"I'm fine!" Ron yelled back, still with his back against the floor.

Dolohov and the man who shot at Ron were not the only ones still standing, there was a third man, a huge blond figure who Ron recognized right away.

Rowle, a Death Eater who was freed from Azkaban weeks before, came rushing after Ron the moment he went flying through the door. Ron saw him just in time. He raised his wand arm blocking the blond man's curse as he jumped back on his feet again.

The long room was beyond familiar, "Oh Crap! Not again!" Ron whined looking at the brains floating in the tank at his back, green liquid all around them. It had been reconstructed exactly as he remembered. He shivered.

The door closed and Ron stopped hearing Harry; his friend and Dolohov were out of his reach now.

The man who shot at Ron was standing inside the brain room also. He walked patiently and seemed to be studying Ron. He had hair as black as the night and a very pointy chin; however, it was his pale blue eyes what caught Ron's attention. Those were not normal, it was as if the man appearance fit perfectly with the Department of Mysteries. Dark, cold, and shining at the same time.

The doors on the circular room where Harry was fighting Dolohov should be spinning by now. Ron knew he had to take these two down before going to help him.

"Weasley I suppose?" the pale eyed man asked in a foreign accent.

"And what do you care?" Ron said dodging a spell from the man and shooting Rowle at the same time. The huge blond man avoided being hit.

The pale eyed man seemed amused.

More spells were thrown and dodged over the long room, mostly from Rowle since the other man didn't seem so interested in hitting Ron quickly. He even moved his wand lazily.

A purple beam from Rowle passed only inches away from Ron, then he heard the sound of a tank exploding at his back, and he didn't gave it a second thought. Ron slammed his body against a door at one side of the room and left before he could see the first brain coming out. He was not going to go through that again.

Ron felt himself falling through a few stone benches, and when he stopped he moved his wand quickly to the door. No one appeared to had come after him, but he could hear Rowle yelling in the distance.

The whispers came; silent at first but somehow going very deeply into him. He turned and he went colder at the sight of the new room. _The Death Chamber_.

He was on a large pit surrounded by levels and levels of stone benches and in the middle, standing as an illusion, _the_ _bloody arch_. The veil. A black tattered curtain fluttering even when the air was cold and still around it. Before Ron even knew it, he was attracted to it and found himself standing a few feet away. He wanted to run in the other direction and never see it again, but he couldn't.

A cold wave flowed through him, and he felt Sirius' presence stronger than ever; even the whispers sounded like him. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but he wanted to.

It was then that another voice came; a younger one that Ron kept very dearly in his memory. They were only whispers, but they sounded like a smirk, like a laugh. His hand raised, only two feet away from the fluttering fabric now.

Ron didn't know what he was going to do, but a new voice reached him and he stopped. It was not a whisper this time but a memory.

"Let's go," said the voice, and it was Hermione's voice.

He remembered. Harry had been here, all of them had been here. Hermione had insisted on going forward, leaving the veil behind. Ron couldn't stay here and find what the whispers were telling him, it was pointless, he wouldn't find anything for him there. He had to help Harry; he had to go back to his Hermione.

"Come on! Let's go," Hermione's voice came one more time, and Ron turned his back to the veil.

The red haired man gave one last glimpse at the door from where he came. No one had come or was going to come after him. His blue eyes found the door to the circular room and ran to it.

Harry was not there, neither was Dolohov. Two men were lying at the floor unconscious, one of them wrapped in rope. His friend was surely at one of the other rooms, still fighting. But which one? How longer until Redfern's men joined them? It felt like a long time had passed already.

As the black doors swivelled again, Ron started thinking about where he was heading. There was very little on what he knew about the Department, but if they indeed had come all of this way for a time artefact, they could only be looking for one room. The next door that he opened led him exactly there.

This room was different from what Ron remembered, or maybe he couldn't remember it that well. It was still filled with gleaming lights and clocks, but aside from that, things had changed. A whole range of strange artefacts were placed on long tables; crazy things like size-changing balls floating around and a flask that seemed to contain a fog of pure darkness. The flask was transparent but the light in the room couldn't get in it. In the centre there was a small tub; it seemed to contain water, but when Ron got close to it, he noticed that he didn't have a reflection, even when everything else did.

He was surprised of course; he blinked and watched again and what he found was more shocking. The reflection now showed himself a lot younger, like when he just finished Hogwarts. A few times he blinked and his age was always different; fifth year, third year, sixth year... first.

He walked away from the pool, moving his wand around. There were offices at the sides where the time turners used to be; he didn't know what was in them anymore. It was becoming frustrating actually because he didn't know what he was looking for. What was that powerful thing that Hermione mentioned? The flask? The pool? Maybe that golden staff that was spinning in the corner.

"Looking for something?" a foreign voice came from the far end of the room, from the door that led to_ the Prophecy Room_. It was the pale eyed man.

Ron immediately raised his wand, "Where's Harry?"

A wicked grin appeared on the man's face, and he gestured with his head to the room at his back.

At first Ron was startled, but he soon heard the far voices and yells from the other side of the door. He could even see some lights flying over the shelves through the open crack of it. He started sweating; he needed to go help Harry, but he couldn't let the pale eyed man get whatever he came looking for.

"You can't get away, by now we should have the Atrium and the upper levels! It's only matter of time!" Ron yelled.

The man moved his hand aside as if dismissing something slightly annoying, "It was never our intention to keep your precious Ministry," he said not looking worried at all.

So it really was all a set up. What else could it be? They couldn't have really expect to take over the British Ministry with around fifty men.

"Besides," the man continued as he walked through the far tables, examining the things there playfully, like daring Ron to fire, "we're not stupid. We knew that even with our great plan things could go wrong. I wouldn't have come without having someone at the Portkey office to arrange something for us," he finished, touching one of his pockets.

"The Portkey Office? You're lying!"

"What? I can't have a guy at the Auror Office, one Unspeakable AND someone at the Portkey Office too?" the man insisted as he moved his eyes around the room, "You are a trained auror Weasley. It would be a folly to underestimate us by now. This was not rushed, it was planned for years and executed correctly."

"W-Who?"

The man stopped and laughed slightly, "I think it doesn't matter hiding them now, but I can't mention them all. Merlin! They are too many!" the foreign man said faking a disbelief gesture, he was smirking, "Pucey, Carter, Dawlish, Robertson, Creevey-"

Ron was shocked, "Creevey? You are nuts."

"You would be surprised of how many names a simple intern has access to. He did want his brother back for one, and well, we kind of forced him too," said the man with a smile raising his wand, "Now, if you are not going to help me search, I would be grateful if you just... backed off!"

A purple blast was thrown at Ron, and he was able to dive behind a table at the last moment. He gritted his teeth, still thinking on those names.

Spells flew over the tables; it was a delicate battle since neither one of them seemed to be trying to hit the artefacts on the room. The man was really good, and he managed to cut a big wound on Ron's wand arm. The redhead was nervous. Harry was one of the best duelist he had known, but he could still hear him battling Dolohov. What was taking him so long? Was he hurt? Did Harry need him?

"Come on Weasley, you want to bring someone back too, am I right? Everybody has someone," the black haired man said as he blasted a chair behind Ron, " A mother, a friend, a father maybe?"

Ron was gritting his teeth with more anger now, "Another relative perhaps?" the man continued, "...is it a sibling?"

"Shut your bloody mouth already!" Ron came out of the table and fired quickly at him. He didn't hit him but a bottle exploded behind the man and an orange liquid was burning his face now.

"Argh!" The man threw a yell of pain, but then he had his defence back up. The man was laughing again, "A sibling it is then," he said and they continued exchanging spells.

Ron didn't know what happened, but a louder explosion was heard and the room was covered in total darkness. He remembered that dark flask.

The two of them kept going, but they tried to guide their attacks only by the sounds. Not even the curses and hexes were bright enough to shine over the black smoke that covered it all.

Ron was hit with a big hourglass on the head and backed away; his fingers touched something liquid there. The pool in the centre.

The dark clouds cleared up a little; everything was still black, but at least now Ron could see the spells coming at him, and the shape of the pale eyed man not far away.

"It is useless Weasley; he will return, and this time I will be by his side!" the man yelled, "I'll tell him how to win."

Ron was able to see the green light one second before it was too late. He dodged and fired back "_Reducto!_" he yelled at a stone table near the man.

There was a chain reaction and between the darkness and all the things flying around he wasn't sure of much things anymore. Ron felt himself fall completely into the pool and the liquid splashed in the air. He didn't know what was up or down anymore. It was as if he was falling down for a long time, far longer than the pool's depth. He couldn't hear a thing. The darkness was gone. The world was blue and silver and shining.


	6. The Journey From The Time Room

**Once again, thanks to Ana-DaughterofHades for the help reviewing this chap.**

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><p>For a moment, Ron thought that he was dead, like really dead. Everything was quiet, everything was black.<p>

He couldn't remember what happened after falling in that pool, but it was very possible that he had been hit by a spell. Maybe one of those green flashes reached him, maybe some other wicked blast did; even one of the many unknown artefacts in the Time Room could have been deathly and he would have never known.

In the end, none of it mattered; not the how, not even the why.

All what was really important to Ron, all what really mattered to him, was Hermione. He could almost see the man calling her by floo, telling her what happened. He could almost see her yelling and crying and kneeling helplessly on the floor. Alone. Just thinking of it tore him apart.

Would Harry be the one to give her the news? He wasn't sure how much that mattered either.

Ron imagined that he was falling, but his body wasn't heading down. He was moving towards his left at a constant pace through a very dark tunnel. He couldn't move his hands or feel his body; he didn't know if that was normal in dying, he hadn't died before. Maybe he wasn't dead after all, maybe he was just dreaming.

As he kept floating through that tunnel, he listened to whispers, muted whispers. They were mostly Hermione's, but some sounded like Harry or his parents or George or Ginny. At the same time came the flashes of cold, blue light, almost in sync with the sounds. The light filled the entire tunnel, its gleam was as pale as that man's unreal eyes, and it kept fading in and out constantly. Ron could distinguish images in those lights, sharp and clear.

Ron saw himself learning of the attack at Azkaban in one of those images and Ginny announcing that she was pregnant from the next one. Slowly his life passed in the form of ghostly and cold patterns. He saw his wedding and he felt his heart shrink at the nervous smile on Hermione's face. The pale blue patterns in the tunnel did not do her justice.

When the images of the first time he saw little Victoire arrived, Ron started wondering if he was really dreaming. He was floating bodiless of course, but he could feel the cold in a way which he couldn't remember from any dream.

The day he joined the Auror force appeared, and then the war. He tried to close his eyes desperately, but it seemed like he didn't have eyelids either. He was forced to see all of it again; Voldemort's fall, Harry lying dead in Hagrid's arms, Fred's motionless body on the cold stones of the Great Hall...

Who was doing this to him? He didn't dream a lot and if he did he wouldn't dream about something so weird. Was this an effect of a potion? Was he still alive trying to recover on some bed at St Mungo's? Was Hermione crying next to his body?

Maybe he was not dead, not yet; maybe he was just dying at that moment.

"Hermione..." he murmured and was able to hear his voice echoing in the endless passage.

Ron tried to go back to the other side of the tunnel but he kept floating to his left, pulled, dragged.

The memories didn't stop. Percy clinging to Fred's lifeless body, the fire in the room of requirement, the kiss...

"Merlin, it took way too long..."

Things didn't get easier when the final battle was left behind. He thought he was going to destroy that bloody tunnel the moment he heard Hermione's yells and the images of him desperately shaking the door in Malfoy's dungeon.

That bloody locket that he loathed so much didn't took long to appear either, "I have seen your heart, and it is mine," the cold whisper made him shiver and then Ron exploded in anger towards himself as he relieved the images of himself leaving Harry and Hermione at the tent.

Mad-eye was gone and so was Dumbledore, then Ron saw Harry kissing his sister in front of everybody in the common room. Lavender came next. He wanted to turn away, he wanted to skip that part, but he couldn't.

What was the point of all of it? Was he ever going to stop going backwards?

Sirius Black fell through veil and Dolor Umbridge was yelling about something that Ron didn't care about when another idea formed in his head. What if something in the Time Room was giving him the visions? Maybe the thing that Hermione talked about or maybe something else from that queer room. Were they only visions or was he actually travelling back?

Ron dismissed the idea of travelling back, it was impossible. He was trying to convince himself of that when he saw Harry appearing at the end of the Triwizard Tournament and Cedric's numb body beneath him.

He had to stop this, he couldn't keep going back and he couldn't stay there either. It didn't matter if it was real or just a dream, he had to return.

The red-haired man tried desperately to walk back but the images were distracting him, dragging him further on the same direction. A younger version of himself was now exchanging yells with Hermione after that stupid Yule Ball. The dragons, the goblet, Krum, the Quidditch Cup all of it was gone as fast as it arrived.

And still Ron couldn't stop moving.

The rat, Lupin, his stupid rows about Crookshanks... was it all ever going to end? What if he actually arrived to the point where he was born? What would happen then? If he was still unconscious in the outside world, would he die then?

He saw Harry bringing Ginny out of the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione petrified and then Myrtle, the dueling club was next followed by Hermione preparing the Polyjuice Potion... He had to do something, he didn't want to go to a point where he didn't have Hermione in his life. What purpose did his life have if she wasn't in it?

After Lockhart was gone, Quirrell appeared and with him the huge chess board formed in the tunnel. Hagrid's dragon shone on the walls and soon Ron was staring at the troll fight and the exact moment when he and Harry became friends with Hermione. He wanted the tunnel to stop and started yelling and moving uncontrollably even when nothing seemed to be happening.

Ron was sorted into Gryffindor and when he saw the blue image of Hermione appearing in his compartment for the very first time he panicked. He couldn't take losing her. Ron yelled so loudly and tried to shake his world so hard that he eventually ended up passing out of the effort. No other images appeared. Only black.

Right away or after a long time - he wouldn't know - Ron regained consciousness. The blurry shapes of the world began to form before his eyes.

"Are all your family wizards?" asked a familiar voice.

Ron didn't know where it had come from and soon he was hit by a sudden light and all the shapes turned clearer. He was shocked by what his eyes were seeing. The redhead was sitting on a train compartment, no different from the ones in the scarlet train to Hogwarts. There was a window to his right and a black haired boy with round shaped glasses looking at him quite confused.

"Ha-Harry?" Ron asked noticing the boy's forehead and the lightning bolt scar. But it couldn't be, Harry Potter was his own age not a young boy as the one in front of him.

There was something off about all of it, even his own voice sounded different.

"Eh... yes, are you all right?"

Ron moved his eyes around, trying to see what was happening. Was it real? Was this a trap? It didn't make sense, if the pale eyed man wanted to kill him he would be dead by now. Thinking about it he realized that his arm didn't hurt anymore.

"Yeah I think so, what happened? Where are we? Where's Dolohov?" the redhead asked confused.

Harry's eyes widened, he looked worried, "Dolo- what? I don't know what you're talking about... We-we are on our way to Hogwarts."

"To Hogwarts?! Why the hell are we... "

At that moment Ron set his eyes on his right arm looking for the wound that the pale eyed man did to him. He was surprised to discover that not only there were no signs of the wound, but that his arm was actually pretty small. Swiftly, he moved his panicked blue eyes to the window of the compartment, and he was shocked by his reflection on the glass.

Crap.

Ron was young too, like a kid. This couldn't be happening; was he dreaming? He pinched himself, trying to wake up, but it was useless. "Ouch!"

Harry was raising an eyebrow at him, "Are you sure that you're all right?"

"I… yes, sure. What were you asking?" Ron said rubbing his head, he needed to play along with it until he found out what was going on.

"I- well, I asked if everyone in your family was a w-wizard?" he asked shyly.

So first year. He was having a vision about first year of course. Ron couldn't be really back in time, that would be a disaster. He needed to stay positive.

"Err yeah, Mum has a second cousin who's an accountant though, we never talk about him." he answered doubtfully waiting to see if there was any weird reaction from the boy, but he didn't notice anything off. It appeared as if the boy in front of him was really an 11 year old Harry Potter.

Harry nodded, "You must know loads of magic then... are you sure that you're all right?"

"I'm fine, just got a little queasy for a bit, nothing to worry about," Ron said with a smile trying to sound casual, "I have seen a lot of magic but haven't used much. I guess I don't have such a big advantage there," he said knowing what Harry was thinking.

The black haired boy gave him a weak smile. A few silent moments passed as Ron tried to remember who was supposed to talk then, he wanted to remain in control of things. It was difficult though; he remembered a few things that they talked about when he first met Harry but not in the correct order. Was he supposed to? Would it be bad if things happened differently? Well no if it was a dream, but what if this really was real? Ron shoved that thought out of his head right away. It couldn't be, it had to be a dream.

"I wish I had three wizard brothers; I grew up with Muggles and they were horrible, well at least my uncle and aunt and cousin are," Harry said after the silence.

"Well I have... five," said Ron with a smile that soon faded when he turned to the compartment door. Was Fred going to appear on on that door or did he already come by? Would the dream last long enough to see him at the castle?

Ron was pale as he stared at door, which wasn't missed by Harry who raised his eyebrow once again noticing the redhead's expression. Harry was about to say something, but Ron saw him and continued in a hurried tone, "Bill and Charlie are the eldest, they already left Hogwarts. There's also Percy and the twins, F-Fred and George." Ron sighed trying to remember the conversation as best as he could. "Oh yeah, they were all great. Head boy for Bill, Charlie was Quidditch captain, and Percy was-is prefect now; the twins are also brilliant. I have a lot to live up to."

The redhead was nervous, he didn't know if his friend could notice something but it was best that he couldn't. He didn't want to say the truth, the boy would think that he was nuts if he talked about the future. Then something came to him, "Oh there's Ginny too, she's my younger sister. She's not coming to Hogwarts until next year," he added uncertain if he had mentioned Ginny the first time. It was difficult to say it without thinking about his pregnant sister and the fact that the boy sitting in front of him was her husband.

"Oh, it must be nice to have such a big family."

"It is, just a little crowded at times," Ron answered, waiting. Now what? Harry was silent again. Was Ron supposed to say something more? He got the feeling that he was missing something. Then he felt his jacket move a little and he knew what it was.

Wormtail. Ron frowned and trying to remain calm he pulled the rat out of his pocket, "This... This is Sc-Scabbers," he said glaring at the animagi, "I got it from Percy, it's just a stupid useless rat. Percy got an owl so I got Scabbers instead."

It was awkward to think that Sirius Black was alive in Azkaban at that very moment, but could he really be? Ron didn't know how big these visions were, maybe there was nothing outside of that compartment. Maybe it was just Harry and him.

After a while Harry started talking more, apparently he felt like he needed to after Ron mentioned his family and the rat. At some point he mentioned Voldemort but obviously Ron didn't flinch. "Some people are scared of the name... maybe you shouldn't be mentioning it around," he said.

"They are? Who? I mean- why?... you didn't seem to mind"

"I-" Ron didn't know how to answer to that so he decided to change the subject and talked to Harry about other kinds of things, nothing that could make the boy think he was crazy of course.

As the time passed the conversation became more fluid, but he also got more nervous. Things were way too real to be a dream. What if he really was back in time? How would he return? He didn't want to be a kid again, he wanted to be back with his wife. At one point he moved his blue eyes to the door, wondering how much time would it take for his 11 year old wife to appear there.

The sweet cart came and Harry of course filled them with candy once again. Seeing that cart and the woman increased Ron's fears about being sent back in time. Then they opened the chocolate frogs and Ron saw Nicolas Flamel's name; this was too much.

By the time Neville appeared, Ron didn't know what to think anymore. He didn't make fun of the boy's toad this time, instead he kept staring at the compartment door with his hands shaking. Could it be possible? Was Neville going to return with her?

"What are you looking at?" Harry asked noticing him.

Ron was startled, "Err... nothing! Was just thinking about that toad... I guess..." He had his blue eyes fixed on Harry when he heard the door slide open and his heart skipped a beat.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," her voice echoed in the compartment and Ron paled, his eyes were big staring at Harry; he hadn't seen her yet. After a second he moved swiftly towards there and in fact his first year wife was standing there. She had her robes already on and her brown hair as bushy as ever, her front teeth were pretty large too.

"We haven't seen it," Harry answered since Ron was still shocked looking at the girl. Hermione of course found the sudden attention confusing.

"Eh- well yeah... Is there something wrong?" she asked Ron.

"NO! I mean- it's just... you look a lot like someone I know," Ron answered and after a weird look she turned back to Harry.

"Are you two from wizarding families? Neville is. Nobody in mine is magic at all; it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course. I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is; I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

Harry turned to Ron, and the redhead wished he could say to him that she wasn't that bad but he was still stunned in his place.

"Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books. for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.-"

"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.

"Goodness, didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon..."

Then Hermione's eyes found Ron once again and was surprised, "Oh you didn't tell me your name"

"R-Ro-Ron We-Weasley"

Hermione threw him a weird look, "Nice to meet you two," and she left with Neville.

Ron was not willing to say anything bad about the girl so Harry was the one to break the silence, "What house are your brothers in?" he asked.

"Gryffindor," said Ron, "Mum and Dad were in it, too. All Weasleys are."

The readhead knew Hermione was not going to return, not now, so he explained to Harry about houses and something more about his brothers in a little more relaxed tone. Then the compartment door opened again, and he couldn't keep from snorting.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at Crabbe and Goyle at Malfoy's sides. Ron had forgotten how much they looked like his bodyguards but there was nothing they could say or do that would scare him at that moment.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said Malfoy carelessly, "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron rolled his eyes. The future Slytherin boy looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He moved his eyes to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

Ron would have answered but he didn't want to miss Harry turning him down. When the blond boy extended his hand and Harry didn't take it, Ron smiled.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry said coolly.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," Malfoy said looking pink, "Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Both Harry and Ron stood up.

"Shut up you ferret," Ron said.

Malfoy turned red, "How dare you to talk to me like that, you don't know who you are dealing with"

"And with who exactly? Your Daddy? Your bodyguards? Because you don't look that menacing really," Ron smiled gripping his wand; he was enjoying this, waiting for Malfoy to do or say the wrong things. And he knew he would.

Harry looked surprised for a moment but he backed him up, "Get out now, we don't want you here," said Harry.

"But we won't go now. We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs. Ron knew that he could just move Scabbers forward, but he didn't want anything from that rat. In a second he took out his wand, and, without thinking about it, he threw all three of them non-verbal Leg-Locker curses. Naturally, they all fell to the floor shouting, and Harry was left staring at him wide eyed. Ron had said he didn't know much about magic and there he was, throwing stuff like that. He had messed up.

"You useless fool!" Malfoy yelled on his way down.

"Keep that bloody mouth shut Malfoy. You don't want to eat dust, do you?" Ron said.

Harry was looking at Ron with great surprise, "How did you-"

"Fred and George, they do it all the time. I'll teach you later if you want, not that difficult really," Ron said quickly to him hoping that he won't ask anything more.

The black haired boy was smiling at him when Hermione appeared on the door, "What's going on in here!?"

Ron was terrified and he quickly lifted the curses, of course verbally. "Sorry, they started it."

The girl was frowning as Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle stood up, "B-But-... you should... how...?" she was looking confused as Malfoy turned with a murderous glare to Ron.

"This is not over Weasley!" and they walked out pushing Hermione out of the way, "Step aside"

Ron obviously was enraged by it, and he walked to the door, "If you ever touch her again-!" he started.

Draco Malfoy stopped only a bit, "Ha! don't tell me that you like her Weasley!"

Ron frowned and pointed his wand at them at which they bolted away. When he turned to look at Hermione she had her cheeks coloured looking as confused as Harry, "A-Are you fine?"

"I'm fine... but you shouldn't..." Hermione was frowning, "Did you do that with their legs?"

Harry nodded.

"How...? I mean- you could be in trouble even before getting to Hogwarts! You shouldn't be doing that!"

Before Ron could apologize or say something else Harry spoke out loud, "Well we didn't get into trouble, did we? Nobody's here," Harry replied.

"But-"

"We still got some sweets, Ron"

"I-I-I-" Ron looked confused. What just happened? Was Harry being the rude one? This was way too weird and not expected at all. He didn't know what to do, this certainly was different to what really happened in his first year.

"I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there," Hermione replied, "It's not time for sweets... or fighting!"

"We didn't start it!" Harry insisted, "It's our business if we have time for sweets also."

Hermione snorted and turned to Ron. He didn't want to upset her but he couldn't go against Harry either, if he did so what would happen then? Would they still be friends?

The bushy haired girl was waiting for an answer from Ron but when the redhead shrugged she stormed out of their sight. Ron's only option was to return with Harry feeling awful about his future wife;he felt guilty and he even thought about going after her. However he had barely crossed a word with her and that would look pretty odd.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately," a voice echoed soon. Ron was still thinking about Hermione.

When the train finally stopped, Harry followed Ron into the cold air. The scene was way too familiar to Ron and at the same time dead creepy. He never imagined that he would be arriving to the Hogsmeade station like that ever again. The pack of students rushing from one side to the other was overwhelming.

A familiar voice took him out of his shock, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

An unconscious smile appeared on Ron as he saw Hagrid's younger face over the sea of students.

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" Hagrid yelled as they followed him through a familiar path; Neville sniffed a couple of times.

It was hard to understand what the hell was going on. Even if he was not dreaming, he couldn't possibly be in the past, could he?

As they moved towards the boats Ron tried to find his brothers, but he didn't have much luck. Many people were moving around hastily, and the twins were probably by the thestrals already. On the train he had thought about going out of the compartment to look for Fred but he had been too scared to do it; also, he didn't know what would happen with Harry if he did.

There was also Hermione; he couldn't keep out of his head the weird sensation that he needed to make peace with her soon, even if he was not supposed to. Ron noticed his future wife walking not far away but the girl was not looking back at him; it felt wrong.

Only hours ago, Ron had been fighting Death Eaters at the Ministry and his only thought then was going back to her. The urge of looking at her at least one last time kept Ron alive. He yearned for the wife he left standing by their fireplace, worried and in a nightgown, her hair all messy. The eleven year old girl that he found was not what he expected at all.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!" but Ron remained silent. He only looked at the castle with fascination remembering so many things.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron took one of those boats followed by Neville; Hermione came with him. When the girl saw them she frowned clearly thinking about choosing a different boat but Neville was already on it.

Hagrid noticed Hermione standing out of Ron's boat, "Wha's the problem? Need help to get in the boat girl?" he asked her but Hermione shook her head and stepped in, sitting as far away from Harry and Ron as possible. "Right then - FORWARD!"

Ron's smile disappeared. It didn't matter if she was just a girl, that was his wife and it pained him that he couldn't go and talk to her as naturally as he did with her older self. At that moment reality hit him. He was alone, no one there knew who he really was.

With a soft rocking, the boats crossed the great lake in silence. Hermione glared at Harry most of the way while Ron threw occasional glimpses to the bushy haired girl. Neville was confused.

The castle of Hogwarts extended before them, as splendid as ever. Ron already dismissed the idea of a dream, this was way too detailed and magnificent. He never had any dream like this before, he was not that creative. The chilly gust in the lake and the water were quite real too.

Ron was terrified. If this wasn't a dream then what did he have to do to return to his old life? He could cause so many problems just by being there and he didn't want to stay either.

Soon they reached the harbor and started climbing the stone steps towards the castle. Neville found his toad there, exactly as last time. Once in front of the very familiar oak door, Hagrid turned to them.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

Ron took a deep breath. He knew exactly what was coming and he still was pretty confused about it, more lost than the first time he stood there.


	7. Talk to the Hat

**Once again, thanks to Ana-DaughterofHades for the help reviewing this chap.**

* * *

><p>Ron couldn't believe how he ever thought that McGonagall looked old back on his first day. The witch had her years of course, but when he had last seen the headmistress of Hogwarts, Ron remembered a good number of grey hairs on her. The woman who now stood before the first years had her hair completely black and didn't look as tired as she would twelve years later.<p>

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

When she opened the door wide and gave them their first look at the entrance hall, Ron realized that he was by far the less surprised face in there. It was not that Hogwarts walls and stairways had stopped being impressive, but he was used to them. They never left him, even after his last year there.

If this was really a dream, it was way too detailed. He was really back in time, that was the only explanation. Ron shivered at the thought and moved forward.

As Professor McGonagall walked them across the flagged stone floor, Ron wondered about what he was going to do. Could he return? He hoped so, but he had to do it before he altered anything; time should not be changed. Hermione had said that more times than he could remember.

The roar of the entrance to the Great Hall reached them, and while everyone else was wondering what was on the other side, Ron could almost see the magnificent ceiling through the solid rock. He was the only one who didn't stay there thinking of crossing through those doors. He followed Professor McGonagall, he knew the small room where they were heading.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said the teacher. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Ron saw the stern look on the witch move to Neville and then to himself. He was startled, for a moment he thought she was going to say something to him, maybe that she knew who he was and where he had come from. However, McGonagall moved her eyes away and talked again.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber, and Ron sighed.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Harry asked.

"It's a little test... so I've heard. Nothing complicated, they don't expect you to do anything really," the redhead answered.

Ron was quite nervous even when he had been there before. He couldn't change anything. How could he remember all what he had done and said so many years ago?

Harry didn't seem to calm much with Ron's answer. He kept to himself thinking deeply about something and then he frowned looking at Hermione. The girl was only a few feet away muttering spells, or at least that was what Ron thought. His heart was beating fast and when the girl turned to him for a quick instant, he was surprised.

Had she turned to look at him last time? Or was this about what he did on the train? Ron was frightened, he could have changed time already.

Then the screams came.

"What's that- ?"

Ron saw the Hogwarts' Pearly-white ghosts glide over them immersed in their own ghostly conversations.

"Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -" said the Fat Friar.

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"

They noticed the students then and the ghosts' attention turned towards them.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar smiling, "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

Some mute nods came from some of the first years.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

Ron could have told him in that moment the exact students that were going to end up in Hufflepuff, after looking at them for a while he could distinguish them all. It was hard picturing them so young but Ron had known them for a long time.

"Move along now," said Professor McGonagall with a sharp voice, she had returned already, "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start."

When the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall the professor faced the students again, "Now, form a line and follow me."

Ron took his place behind Harry in the line and from there he spotted Seamus. They walked out of the chamber into the Great Hall, Ron's eyes were the first to move up knowing the image that was to come.

The Great Hall's ceiling was as magnificent as ever, totally open to the heavens, or so it appeared to be. The thousands of candles floating in the air brought pleasant memories back to him.

Hermione whispered, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_." Ron couldn't repress a smile.

After a while his eyes moved around the tables and his heart skipped a beat. There, on the Gryffindor side, two people grabbed his attention. The twins looked exactly the same and still this time Ron knew perfectly well who was George and who was Fred. He had lived so much time without Fred that it was simple now. He couldn't stop staring at him.

He was forced to look away for a moment though, the nervous kids walking behind him kept pushing him to continue as McGonagall said, and Ron did so. On their way to the teachers' table Ron threw a few more glances at Fred, he didn't know if his brother would notice that or if he would find it weird but Ron didn't care. Everything was good for a moment, it was like the bloody war never happened.

The sound of Professor McGonagall putting the stool on the floor caught his attention and he got his first glimpse at the dirty and patched fabric. The Sorting Hat.

It took Ron ten complete seconds but when he realized it, he froze and his blue eyes opened wide. The Hat was going to know, it was going to discover that he was from a different time, it was going to tell Dumbledore. Ron didn't want anybody to know, not even the headmaster. The old wizard was on the right side but Ron hadn't really liked how he did things before, besides if he was going to return without changing things not even Dumbledore should know about the future.

Ron couldn't suppress a cautious glare at the wizard, thinking about what the old man could do if he found out about him. That was his first look at the teachers' table.

Most of the professors there gave him all kinds of memories, but the most confusing ones came when he caught sight of Snape. He didn't know what he was supposed to feel; the man had saved them all and he was a person worth of admiration, however, Ron couldn't keep himself from thinking on all of those times the man acted like a git.

Then he shivered, Quirrell was there too, Voldemort. Now what? Was Ron supposed to go back and let things flow as last time? With Voldemort around the students? What about Snape and Fred or even Cedric - who was surely sitting at the Hufflepuff's table now - ? Was he supposed to just let them die?

Ron was thinking of yelling to the whole hall that Quirrell had Voldemort under his purple turban when the hat started singing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst in applause except for Ron, the thoughts of Quirrell and Voldemort still racing in his head.

He wondered if he should stop it all at that moment, before the Hat found out about him. He could try and make things different, better. A lot of possible futures formed in his head and many of them included Fred still living after the war. However, the more he thought about it the more he realized how wrong it was.

He just couldn't. He couldn't change things, that's what Hermione would have said and he knew perfectly well why. So many things could go wrong, worse than before. He didn't want to think of a future where Fred lived but Hermione died for example, that would tear him apart.

The redhead was conflicted looking at his brother. Fred was talking lively at the Gryffindor table, unaware of the fate that was waiting for him. Couldn't he just warn him or something? Couldn't they have the exact same future but with Fred in it?

Ron felt so selfish at that thought as he turned to look at Harry. What about him? He lost people too, what about Sirius? Everybody else lost people, and he was only thinking about Fred. Ron moved his eyes to the Hufflepuff table and soon he found Cedric. He was happy, he didn't know.

Harry's voice took him by surprise, "So do we have to..."

It took a while for Ron to understand, but he nodded, "Yes we have to try it on, I think"

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding the roll of parchment. With a lot of pain Ron made up his mind. He was going to take his chances with that Hat and at the first opportunity he was going to return to his own time. He didn't belong here; he needed to let Fred go, one more time.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

_Hufflepuff,_ Ron thought to himself. He had last seen Hannah at a party next to Neville, they were married now. The redhead moved his eyes unconsciously to the scared, round faced boy, he was so different during Ron's time.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

One by one they walked to the stool; no matter how quickly the hat shouted, Ron always knew where everybody was going to end up before that. When Lavender's name was mentioned Ron shivered and tried not to look at her until she was seated at Gryffindor's table.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Ron was nervous, there were still no changes in the sorting but he was suddenly afraid that their encounter on the train had somehow altered Hermione's house. He couldn't have changed that, right? He didn't know what he would do if Hermione didn't end up in Gryffindor.

The bushy haired girl rushed to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. The seconds before the hat yelled felt terribly slow, overwhelming. It was like being back at the Ministry's Atrium where a lot could happen in no time.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

Ron sighed in relief. In front of him, Harry made a gesture that he couldn't understand.

As the line continued walking to the hat it was clear that Harry turned more edgy. Ron tried to calm him down, but there was not much he could do without saying that they were both going to be picked by Gryffindor. Or at least that was last time. Ron was the one in real trouble though; the hat was going to know, the hat was going to know...

When Malfoy was picked for Slytherin he walked to his table shooting a murderous glare at Ron. He couldn't care less really, Malfoy was the least of his problems. What was Ron going to say to the hat? What was Dumbledore going to do? His doubts were soon interrupted...

"Potter, Harry!"

Harry stepped forward nervously, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

His black haired friend sat there for a while, the whole hall was tense waiting for an answer. Eventually the hat spoke and the right table burst in cheers. "GRYFFINDOR!" it said.

Percy shook Harry's hand and the twins began making a party out of him, Ron smiled. He knew that he had to go back to his own time but at that moment all what he wanted was to be there with them, at least for a while. He wanted to hear the twins talking again as only they could.

More names passed and by the time it was Dean's turn, Ron was beyond nervousness. Could he really destroy everything if he changed things? He would agree to go back but he didn't know how. What if by the time he made it back everything was beyond repair? What if he ended up losing somebody else from his family?

"Weasley, Ron!"

Looking pale, Ron walked to the stool, remembering that last time it had only taken one second for the hat to shout. He was almost sure that it would take longer this time. He sat down and the old dirty hat fell gracefully over his eyes.

"Hmm, well, well... what do we have here?" he could hear the hat, as far as his memory told him he hadn't heard it last time, "We have met before." It was not a question.

"Y-Yes," said Ron without knowing if the hat would listen to him.

"I see, well you're pretty far away from home, aren't you? Hmmmm... The real question is what should I do with you?"

"Don't tell! I want to go back but I dunno how. I won't change things," Ron pleaded.

"Don't forget I can see in your head, you are not entirely sure of what you're saying. However, I can't help much with it either... difficult situation indeed..."

"I am sure! I won't change things! I'll fix it, just don't tell Dumbledore. I'll fix it before he finds out." Ron's heart was racing. What if the hat didn't buy that? What if he turned him in to Dumbledore right at that moment?

The headmaster wouldn't stop to think about it, he would probably try to wipe away his memory, but Ron didn't like that option. He didn't want to forget, he wanted to have all his memories when he went back to his time. He loved those memories.

"I don't say to the headmaster things that he doesn't ask, nor things that he doesn't need to know..." The hat remained silent and then he spoke differently, "Well, we can't keep this going on forever... that's for sure. Your mind is in the right place Ronald Weasley... it is here of course, I can see it. For everyone's sake I hope you make the best decisions - especially now that you are going to GRYFFINDOR!"

Ron was shocked, he didn't expect to be released from that conversation so suddenly. A moment later he was walking stunned to the roaring table of Gryffindor. What was going to happen? Would the hat really keep what he learned from the headmaster? Did it see his reasons to mistrust him or the way he acted last time? He didn't know.

By the time McGonagall called Blaise Zabini to the stool, Ron had reached the table. Harry was clapping and Percy didn't take long to congratulate him.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," his brother said more pompously that he could remember. Percy was a little different in the future.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

"Welcome," Albus Dumbledore's voice echoed in the hal. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

"Is he - a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy.

"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

It had been a very long time since Ron last found himself in front of so much food but unwilling to eat as much as he used to. He didn't know what he was going to do. He should probably check in the library to see if he could find something there, but he didn't know where to start, he was not Hermione. Was there a book for time pools or stuff like that?

The only thing that he was sure of was that he was not going to tell Dumbledore, not now when he didn't fully understand things. The old wizard was very capable of helping, but once in his office it would all be in the headmaster's terms. Ron had to try and fix this on his own first, he knew the future after all, he just needed to make sure that everything would go exactly the same as last time. Ron was capable of doing it right, how hard could it really be?

Harry was eating eagerly at his side. Ron felt sad when looking at him; he could really use the older Harry's help now, he could use Hermione's too. However, Ron knew that he couldn't tell them, not if he wanted to keep the future unchanged. They were probably too young to deal with what he knew anyways.

Ron found himself unable to stop staring at Hermione; she was way too young and she still needed to learn a lot of things, but somehow that girl was his future wife. Hermione noticed the attention of course and threw Ron a weird look, so he forced himself to look away.

Nearly Headless Nick came and took Ron out of his thoughts. The redhead was the only first year whose eyes didn't pop open when the ghost swung his head aside. They talked about the Quidditch cup and who they were. Ron tried his best to remember, to keep the conversation as casual and normal as he could, but once in awhile he was distracted staring at many people around. He hadn't seen some of them in a while and he had thought that he was never going to see a few others ever again. Fred was joking not far away.

"Ouch!" Harry suddenly clapped a hand to his head.

"What is it?" asked Percy.

"N-nothing."

If only a scar hurting could be nothing.

"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" Harry asked Percy.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

Harry stared for a few seconds and Ron had to stop the urges to tell him that it was not Snape; it was never Snape.

After the desserts were gone Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the whole room, "Ahern - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of Fred and George.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.

"He's not serious?" Ron's friend muttered to Percy.

"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere - the forest's full of dangerous beasts; everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

Ron could almost see _Fluffy_, the three-headed dog, barking at them with its massive jaws.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. He gave his wand a little flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of it; it rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

As always everybody finished the song at different times; the twins were the last ones and Dumbledore conducted them until the very end.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

They followed Percy all the way through the familiar path, marble staircases and all. Ron was smiling remembering all the moments he spent there, he even enjoyed Percy's exchange with Peeves much more than the first time. Soon they were all standing in front of the portrait of a familiar fat woman with a silk pink dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis," Percy answered. The portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room; cozy, warm, and as full of squashy armchairs as ever.

The twins were not far away and Ron wanted to reach them, but they had said their goodbyes from the distance and climbed swiftly to their rooms. He wished he had had at least a few words with Fred but following them would look weird and unconventional. Ron needed to keep things the same, and he could surely see them the next day.

Ron's blue eyes followed a certain bushy haired girl all the way to the girls staircase and then he climbed up to his own tower. Everything was just as he remembered, even the four-posters were placed in the exact same spot for all of them. He was the first to pick his; he didn't want anyone to beat him to his old bed.

"How are you doing?" Ron muttered to Harry; he frowned at Scabbers when it moved around. Ron wanted to do something about the old rat but he couldn't; he wasn't supposed to change things. Ron gritted his teeth thinking of Sirius at the moment.

"Brilliant," Harry answered in a low voice, and Ron saw him falling asleep almost instantly.

Ron smiled and let out a heavy sigh. He lied there on his his bed for a while, just looking at the top of it. He had to be very careful with what he was going to do, many things depended on him.

As he closed his eyes he wished that in the morning he could wake up in his real bed, next to Hermione; that everything since the attack on Azkaban had been a dream. He knew that it was not what he was going to find, but he didn't lose anything by hoping.


	8. The Halfblood Git

**Again, thanks to Ana-DaughterofHades for the help with this chap.**

* * *

><p>It was pretty weird to be back at Hogwarts as a normal student; the walks through its wide halls felt more like a memory than anything else. Ron was a little nervous and sometimes even the laughs in the corridors made him wary. He feared that at any moment the world before his eyes would reveal itself as nothing more than someone's sick joke.<p>

That wasn't going to happen though, deep down he knew that all of it was real. That time pool had somehow sent him twelve years into the past, to a world that was not his. Harry's desperate yells, young Parker's lifeless body, and that man's unnatural pale eyes were all out of his reach now.

A couple of times he wondered about that man and the scene that was left behind. Ron didn't know if that had moved forward as a different reality or if that future stopped existing entirely. He hoped not; he needed to believe that his life was still waiting for him there. Ron couldn't stay in the past, but every time he saw Fred he doubted. It will be very hard to say goodbye to him once Ron found out how to return.

"I have to say that you got us worried for a moment," George said at breakfast. Ron had practically dragged Harry to sit next to the twins the very first morning after the Sorting.

"We thought that the hat was running out of options for you," Fred completed. Ron only shrugged smiling; he just couldn't be mad at them.

"It took a long time with me too," said Harry.

"Well yeah but you are Harry Potter; you must be interesting, even for a hat."

The twins made Ron laugh whenever they joined them which was something that helped him a lot. He was so nervous about messing things up that a little relaxing time could do wonders for him. Having Harry was pretty good too; Ron would have preferred a lively chat with his older self but the young Harry brought something familiar that Ron was in no place to refuse. The easily-amazed boy was his old friend, more insecure and secluded at times for sure, but he was still Harry.

They got along pretty well, just as easily as last time, even so it was hard to look at him without thinking about everything that was yet to come. Ron couldn't say a thing though; he wasn't supposed to change the past. He had to act as normal as possible while he found a way back.

Like the previous time, whispers followed them since the moment they first left the dormitory. It was odd for Ron being more used to them than Harry was; his friend was clearly annoyed and Ron felt sorry for him. Ron wanted to say that it wouldn't last long but he knew that was far from being the truth.

Apparently Ron was back to being_ that redheaded boy next to Harry Potter_; he hadn't been so anonymous in years and surprisingly enough he found it refreshing. He had been a renown hero for some time now and he had come to understand perfectly well all of Harry's complains. In his own time there was no place in the Magical Britain where he could go without being noticed but now he was a simple Weasley again.

It really was a good thing that people were not giving him too much attention; the very last thing that he needed was to be noticed. Ron had to go back to his own time and he had to do it soon, before he changed something or before someone could discover him.

Dumbledore was still not an option so he decided to wait for the chance of solving the problem by himself, at least the Hat didn't seem to have said anything to the headmaster yet.

Ron made his first mistake as soon as the day after the Sorting. He guided Harry through Hogwarts as if it was his own house, without thinking about it he made sure that they never got lost going from one classroom to the other. Ron knew the castle so well that there was not a single first year that could reach any point sooner than them.

Hogwarts was exactly as he remembered. The fake doors, the moving staircases, the secret passages; it was like he never left. He was even able to know who was supposed to be on many of the portraits before looking at them.

"My brothers have talked about the castle for ages, I also think I have been lucky guessing a few tricky shortcuts," Ron used to say to Harry those days. His friend was surprised of how fast Ron could move them through the halls.

It didn't take long for Ron to wonder if he was altering things by moving them like that, but by then Harry had already learned his ways around the castle. They didn't go unnoticed by Fred and George of course, who were were impressed of how quickly they could move through the secret passages.

"Not bad at all Ronnie, still don't think that you know it all."

"There are many secrets here..." added Fred with a smirk, "some of them are only known by us."

Ron really doubted that.

Every time Ron heard them completing each other's sentences he wondered about future-George; his brother always had Fred in his thoughts and Ron wished that he could be here too. Seeing the twins joking again was enough to erase all the bitterness from before, they made Ron forget about fighting and shifty pale-eyed men for a while. However there was something that he was still missing, Hermione.

Ron's eyes followed the bushy haired girl whenever she appeared. He missed her, her older self, even with Fred there he couldn't stop feeling like he was not complete until he had her in his life. Hermione was his constant reminder that he had to return.

Unfortunately he didn't have a clue of how to do that just yet. Ron couldn't even go to the library to give it a check; Harry was always with him and Ron didn't have any good excuses to leave him alone. Their friendship was starting and it was crucial for the future, moving away from him could affect that a lot. Apparently the best option he had was to continue things as normal; hopefully Harry would end up in the Quidditch team pretty soon and his practices would give Ron the perfect opportunity to find out what was going on.

So Ron had to be a first year again; deal with Peeves and Filch and Malfoy but attend to classes too. He soon discovered that the difficult part was not doing those things but keeping them as close to last time as possible. He didn't have a problem doing that on Herbology or History of Magic, but once McGonagall's class arrived he realized that he couldn't distract himself one bit.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," the old witch had said in her first class, "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

The beginning of the lesson, as well as most of the other classes, was plain boring. He knew all of those things that the professor was saying but he couldn't stand up and ask for a complex Transfiguration session. He pretended to read the basics in silence and once the matches were out, he made lazy movements with his wand trying not to turn it into a needle on the first shot.

Next to him Harry was frowning at his own match, it hadn't changed one bit. Seeing his frustration, Ron decided to help him a little. "Look mate, maybe you need to focus a bit more, like thinking of the match transforming a little at a time. More security on the wand would be great too, like this."

At those words and without even thinking too much, Ron targeted his own match. His eyes sprung open, suddenly, he had a pretty solid and shiny needle in front of him. Obviously his surprise was not about transforming the match but about doing it on his second or third try. Only a couple of minutes have passed since McGonagall gave them the matches and not even Hermione was close to doing it.

"What do we have here?" the professor said approaching Ron's desk, "I must say I am impressed Mr. Weasley, I don't think I remember a student doing this so quickly before." Ron gulped, that was definitely not what happened last time.

As the professor raised the needle for everyone to see Ron remained pale in his seat, he knew he had done something wrong. A few seats away Hermione frowned with a snort and continued working on her own match; she was able to transform it a little by the end of the class but she still threw some strange looks at Ron.

Being the first of the class was important to Hermione, especially to first-year Hermione; he couldn't take that away from her. Ron walked out of the classroom looking as if he had been the worst in class.

Surprisingly enough a few doors away Hermione stood in front of them holding her book tightly against her chest; she was still frowning. Ron was terrified; he couldn't remember this happening before. He took a step back and he almost tripped over his own robes.

"How did you do that?" the girl demanded with a serious tone.

"I- well... it was in the book."

"That was supposed to take us weeks, you did it during the first class," she insisted, "Have you been studying on your own? Did you look at a different book?"

Ron didn't know if she was angry or just curious; next to him Harry raised an eyebrow, he was looking at Ron too. "What?... no, I only- followed the instructions, really," Ron mumbled as he waved his arms quickly.

Hermione didn't look convinced, "What about that thing you did on the train? You didn't say anything, no incantation, you just did it."

The colour drained from Ron's face. He was supposed to look normal; he couldn't have Hermione suspecting something in the first week. What was he thinking doing non-verbal spells?

"Of course I did! I just said it very low... my brothers use that spell all the time... I-I-"

"Well I was very close and I didn't hear a thing."

Ron was helpless, he didn't know what to do. To his fortune, or misfortune, Harry spoke then. "Can you knock it off already?" he asked quite annoyed, "He said that he did it, okay?"

Hermione was of course stunned by Harry's intervention; she appeared to be considering a reply but instead she snorted and walked swiftly away. Ron was unsettled, he didn't know if that had been a good or a bad thing but something inside was urging him to run after her. She was clearly upset and it required a lot of self control to stay with Harry.

"I don't really know what her problem is," Harry said some time later, "I mean is she mad because you did the needle thing first?"

Ron shrugged. "I-I- don't think so,... she's not that bad... I think," he said awkwardly, earning an odd stare from his friend. He would have suggested to go talk to her but he knew that Harry would have refused. Also he had to keep his promise of not changing things, Hermione would have to wait for a few weeks and hopefully for a troll. Ron should be back in his own time by then.

Defence Against Dark Art was not pleasant either. If they had a normal teacher Ron would have felt pretty much like with Transfiguration, he was an experienced auror after all, but it is not every day that you go willingly to a class with Voldemort behind the teacher's desk. Most of the time the students kept whispering to themselves or raising their eyebrows at the weirdness of Professor Quirrell, but not Ron.

The redhead could see right through him, even on the goofiest or more pathetic behaviors of the man Ron remained with a serious look. Behind the turban and the pesky garlic scent Ron could see who he really was. He was a pretty good actor, he had to give him that; at moments it was hard to imagine that he could be so dangerous. However, during his entire class Ron was tense, even when he knew that Quirrell wouldn't do anything then he couldn't let his wand go. Hermione and Harry were there and he had to be prepared, he couldn't let them be harmed.

Ron spent the remainder of the week trying to answer all of Harry's questions about the Wizarding World; to his own surprise he was now helping him with his homework too. Ron was a bit lazy about actually writing the essays but at least he knew most of the answers there.

"_Locomotor Mortis_," Harry said one afternoon. Ron was teaching Harry the Leg-locker curse but Harry still needed to work on the strength of the spell. Ron could get away from Harry's curse quite easily.

"You'll get it by next week."

Maybe teaching Harry that spell so soon was changing things too, but he couldn't stop it. Harry kept asking about the time he used it on Malfoy and he had promised to teach him after all. He needed to prove that it was an easy spell for a first-year to know too; he didn't want Harry suspecting him about the train scene.

What really worried Ron though was the whole Transfiguration incident, that could surely change things in a much bigger way. Every first year was talking about his feat with the needle and he even got a few surprised words from the twins when it reached their ears. Percy also seemed ready to guide him on the arduous path of being a passionate student, which Fred and George found to be a thing worthy of a joke or two.

Although, the most noticeable change was that Harry seemed a lot more annoyed towards Hermione than he was last time, and Ron had to find a way of solving that before leaving.

It had been very surprising when Hermione talked to them after Transfiguration and even though it was quite a change, Ron couldn't stop from hoping that she would talk to them again. Ron didn't like seeing her alone all the time.

Eventually, Friday came and Ron knew perfectly well what that meant.

"What have we got today?" Harry asked at breakfast.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron seriously.

"That's Professor Snape's class, isn't it?"

Ron nodded not looking particularly enthusiastic, "Yeah, he's Head of Slytherin House and he always favors them, that's what Fred and George say anyways."

"I wish McGonagall favored us," said Harry

It was weird how different their thoughts surely were at the moment. They both appeared to be focused on the Transfiguration homework but deep down Ron's worries were not about that. He was counting the days until he could start paying visits to the library; he needed to start looking for time travel books and, if he was lucky enough, he would be able to see Hermione there. He really needed his older wife but he also wanted to make sure that her younger self was doing all right.

At that moment a hundred owls streamed around the Great Hall delivering all kinds of packages and letters; for the first time that week Hedwig landed next to Harry. It was Hagrid's note asking to meet him at his hut; Ron was at least happy that it was not a note about a certain dragon egg. He wondered how the whole dragon thing would turn out now.

Ron tried to think that nothing would change since his actions couldn't possibly have that much of an impact on the timeline, at least not yet; he had to move fast.

Soon they were off to the classes, Ron walked as slowly as he could on the way to the dungeons. A few yards away from the entrance his eyes popped opened; he had an idea but he didn't know if he should dare.

"Err... do you know anything about Potions?" he asked making up his mind, a little change won't hurt anyone, "Have you gone through the book already?"

Harry of course looked terrified at Ron's question. The black haired boy had been comfortable with the classes so far; he had seen that even kids from wizarding families were not that much ahead. Ron accomplished the needle thing of course but almost everybody else seemed to be struggling as much as Harry with their own needles. Even so, the possibility of not being prepared for Potions took him off guard.

"We-Were we supposed to?"

"No, of course not, but... I wondered..."

"I-I- well, no, I don't know a thing about Potions," said Harry.

"The same with me, I mean I only know a few things. Like this... _bezoar_, it's a stone that comes from a goat's stomach I believe," Ron said trying to sound casual as he looked at his friend from the corner of his eye, "Percy talks about school things sometimes so... there's that. It's supposed to cure most poisons."

Ron thought that was enough. It would be suspicious if Harry suddenly knew all the answers to Snape's questions and to be honest that was the only question he remembered. He couldn't forget about that stone after all; it had saved his life once. It would be much better if Harry kept that one in mind.

The dungeon was exactly the same, with the dozens of jars against the walls with dead animals inside. To his own surprise Ron soon found himself missing Slughorn.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," Snape began in his usual drawling whisper, "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper on death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Ron could almost count the seconds, he knew what was coming.

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Confused, Harry glanced at Ron; the redhead thought that he knew the answer but he couldn't give him anything. Hermione did too since she was now raising her hand vigorously in the air.

"I don't know, sir," said Harry.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer, "Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Harry's eyes opened wide and he turned to his side; Ron tried to fake his best surprised look.

"A goat's stomach?" he asked doubtfully.

Ron had to try very hard not to laugh at Snape's face at that moment.

"What did you just say?" the professor asked looking very displeased at Harry's words; from his reaction one might think that he had given him the wrong answer.

Ron nodded at Harry. "A goat's stomach... sir," Harry said a bit louder this time.

"And what is it used for?" the greasy git demanded.

"It-It cures a lot of poisons..."

Snape seemed to be considering his answer for a bit, "Seems like you do know how to read a book after all; I'm afraid that it will take more than that to get a good grade at my subject."

For a brief instant Ron thought that the Potions' teacher was going to leave it there, but apparently that was too good to be true, "Can you name two poisons that cannot be cured by the use of a bezoar, Potter?"

Harry looked as if all of his good luck had just left; unfortunately Ron couldn't help him there. Snape asked two more questions that Harry got wrong of course; apparently Harry's good answer made things worse since the man was now determined to make Harry look bad. Malfoy was sniggering but Ron didn't even see him since during the next question the redhead lost it.

"That's a second year question!" he shouted and his eyes popped opened when he realized that he had said it out loud. The whole class went silent and Snape's dreadful eyes moved to him. Hermione was now still and she lowered her hand; her eyes were set on Ron.

"Excuse me, Mr. Weasley, do you have something to say? I must have forgotten the moment when I asked for your opinion."

Ron was tense, he had surely made a mess of it again but he wasn't willing to back out now. He frowned, "That's a second year potion, I think,... professor," he said in a low voice; he couldn't recall the last time he got similar attention in a Potions' class.

Snape's look was ice cold, "Is it now? So should I believe that you know what I would get if I mix bat spleens, dried nettles, and puffer-fish eyes?"

"A swelling solution," Ron answered in a mute voice. Harry was pretty confused moving his eyes between Snape and Ron.

The black haired man didn't make a gesture of having heard Ron. The class was still silent; even Malfoy was waiting for Snape to say that Ron was wrong to start laughing. But Ron was not wrong.

For a brief instant Ron wondered if he was going to get points from the professor for the first time in his life, but as soon as the man spoke, he knew that it had been nothing more than a folly hope. "Enough with the simple questions, we have to move forward with this class." He then moved his eyes full of hate to Ron.

"A point will be taken from Gryffindor House for talking out of turn, Weasley," he continued and turned to Harry, "I would keep studying if I were you Potter."

Malfoy's mocking laugh came of course.

Harry was fuming, fortunately he didn't say a thing. Deep down, Ron knew that Snape was a good man, but he kept making it incredibly hard not to hate him.

Ron didn't raise his voice during the rest of the class but that didn't mean he didn't have the opportunity. After Ron's moment with the questions, Hermione seemed to feel the need to be noticed too; she tried to raise her hand through class with more insistence than before, and when Snape told her to sit down with a few rude comments, Ron almost shouted again.

Close to them Neville was having a hard time with his potion and Ron knew that whether they helped him or not they would be scolded. Ron helped him either way once he was finished with his own potion. To his surprise all he got from Snape was a nasty glare which meant that the potion was acceptable.

Ron was amazed with himself; he couldn't remember a single time when he had finished so quickly with his potion and got Snape's approval. On the other hand, he couldn't forget that he was an auror in a first year class either.

Snape continued being a git towards Harry, but this time he kept an eye on Ron too; even so, the second half of the class went better than expected. A couple of times Harry tried to answer back but Ron kicked him under the table and stopped him, "Don't push it," Ron muttered to him.

Neville messed up his potion of course but not as badly as last time; at least he didn't need to go to the infirmary. Ron knew that Neville was actually pretty good at Potions; he only needed a little help. After all, a Herbology teacher is supposed to have some kind of knowledge in potion brewing, and from where Ron had come from, Professor Sprout was already preparing Neville to take her place after she retired.

"Oh forget about the ugly bat already."

Harry was frowning, "I just don't get it! You had the right answer, and I didn't do anything before but he was still out to get me."

Ron gave his friend a half smile; it was a shame that he couldn't talk to him about his father's and Snape's problems. "Err... mind if I join you at Hagrid's?"

Hagrid's Hut was a nice change from the dungeons and Ron was even glad to see Fang again.

"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears.

"Ehm, This is Ron," said Harry as the half-giant prepared his infamous rock cakes.

"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."

Ron smiled, if there was something good about this whole thing, it was seeing them together again. How would he be able to say goodbye to Fred for the second time?

They told Hagrid about their lessons while the huge man put some rock cakes in front of them. Ron showed a twisted smile even before his first bite.

They mentioned Snape of course and Hagrid was impressed when Harry told him that Ron answered a second year question. Ron blushed and gave him a nervous smile; he didn't know for how much longer the _heard it from my brothers_ excuse was going to be credible.

The conversation moved to Charlie and then Ron told Hagrid that he was convinced that his brother would marry a dragon if he could; the half-giant burst into laughter.

"Hagrid!" Harry's voice got Ron's and Hagrid's attention, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

Ron made a weird gesture; he knew what was going on in his friend's mind at the moment. At least he hadn't messed with that part; the whole Philosopher's Stone events started just as last time.

As they headed back to the castle with their pockets filled with rock cakes, Ron threw a few glimpses at his young friend. There were many things awaiting him and a minor change could cause a lot of damage, at least that was what Hermione always said.

Ron felt heavier; he had been carrying a big burden ever since he left his house the night of the attack. Ron never had such a big responsibility lying only on his shoulders before. He was afraid of not being up for the task.

It was still uncertain if the events of Transfiguration and Potions were just little forgettable moments or if those would affect something bigger.

One mistake, that was all it would take. One mistake and everything could be lost.


	9. A Bright Student

The next day George caught up with Ron and Harry down one of the corridors of the second floor.

"Well, well, is it true?" he said putting an arm over his brother's shoulders, "Rumor has it that you are quite a know-it-all these days"

Right then Fred popped out from the other side of Ron startling him, "We didn't know you had it in you honestly, I must say that we are quite disappointed" added the twin closing his eyes and shaking his head slowly.

Ron didn't know how to answer, as far as he knew they could be referring to either his feat with the needle at Transfiguration or to the events on Snape's class. Either way it was not good, he needed to treat those as if they never happened, maybe if he did so and started acting more like his first-year self nobody would suspect a thing.

The redhead was very prone to mistakes and the little one he already did was starting to grow, he didn't know how to return everything to normal.

"I was lucky- th-that's all... it was just a ruddy needle" Ron mumbled to his brothers.

"Rubbish" said Fred, "what about what happened at Snape's class? Have been picking books before classes eh?"

George looked scandalized, "You got to be careful there Ronnie, I don't know what we're gonna do with you if you start acting like Percy-"

"-or if you suddenly turn into Snape's favorite student"

Ron was dumbfounded as he imagined Snape smiling and celebrating all of his answers in class, it was a disturbing image. "What?! NO! of course not! You're nuts if you think that I would-" he turned to Harry looking for help but his friend was trying to contain a chuckle. "Oy!"

The twins left shortly but they kept bugging him for the rest of the weekend. Percy talked to him more, he mentioned that he started great but that he needed to keep the hard work if he wanted to make it to prefect. Ron didn't listen to him, the last thing that he needed was to follow his advices, although he wished he could tell him that the badge could be his even without doing all of those things. He would have loved to see Percy's face at that.

As the new week started Ron walked into each classroom with a clear idea in his head. He sat normally next to Harry and tried to do as worse as he could on every single class, almost as bad as Neville. Ron messed spells, failed in homeworks and the few times that teachers asked him questions he answered wrong. The redhead hoped that soon everyone else would think that Ron's first week had only been a lucky hit.

Harry was confused of course and he asked if everything was all right, Ron tried his best to convince him that things were normal the way they were but his friend didn't look entirely sure. Hermione had noticed the change too since he caught her raising her eyebrow at each wrong answer that he gave. The only weird thing was that teachers seemed to be paying more attention to him, surely they knew about what happened on McGonagall's and Snape's classes too. Professor Flitwick even appeared to be a little disappointed when he failed on a pretty basic quiz.

"I repeat, Impact of bodyweight on a Transfiguration spell, I want that paper on my desk first time next week. Ten inches." said Professor McGonagall at the end of her class on Thursday. Everyone was already packing their stuff, chatting lively about the first flying lesson that they were going to have that day.

Ron made an effort and he managed to go through the entire class without changing his match one bit, he felt like he was doing quite fine with that, at least until McGonagall spoke again.

"Weasley, I want a moment with you please"

At that a few puzzled looks turned to Ron and he could see Seamus whispering something into Dean's ears a few seats away. All of Ron's confidence in his new plan vanished, McGonagall had noticed something for sure. He nodded shyly looking peakish.

"What's this about?" Harry asked in a low voice. Ron shrugged without taking his eyes away from the professor.

As he picked his stuff Harry threw him one last worried glance and promised to wait outside.

Soon there was nobody else on the room besides Ron and the old witch. Professor McGonagall stared at Ron for what seemed like forever, studying him, Ron was starting to wonder if she was going to say anything at all when the teacher spoke with a soft voice.

"Sit" she said pointing at one chair in the front row.

All the way there his steps echoed in the now empty classroom, once there the old witch moved her square glasses and continued, "Mind to tell me what's going on?"

He froze and for a moment the crazy idea that the teacher might know who he really was startled him. "Err... what's wrong? I don't know what you mean pr-professor"

"Don't you think I haven't notice. One day you impress me turning that match into a perfect needle in your second try, something that I haven't seen in any other student before, and now you try to make me believe that you are quite behind in my class."

"I'm really having a hard time with it... sorry, I just-"

Professor McGonagall stopped him with a hand gesture, she hadn't finish, "I am not a fool Mr Weasley, I can see that your wand movements are clearly trying to get the spell wrong. I have enough experience to notice such things. The question here is- _why?_"

Ron gulped, "Why?" it was a tense moment, he even turned to his sides nervously but he then remembered that he was the only student in class.

"Yes Mr Weasley, why? Why are you trying to fail in my class on purpose?" she asked with her typical stern look on her face.

"I- I'm not! really! I'm only..."

"Don't lie to me. I even talked to Filius and the rest of the staff, I told them to keep an eye on you. Imagine my surprise when they tell me that you are not a pretty bright student at all"

Ron was trapped, he knew it. He made a very drastic change and no-one bought it. If he had only failed just a little more at a time maybe they wouldn't have noticed. He was awful at making decisions, if it had only been Hermione the one sent to the past nothing of this would have happened.

"Bloody brilliant Weasley" he said to himself feeling really stupid.

"Well? I am waiting for an explanation."

He took a deep breath and decided that the best thing was letting it go, "Yes professor, I've been trying to fail on purpose" he said on a very weak voice, it was hard not to look away.

"I imagine that there must be a strong reason for this kind of behavior"

All type of thoughts raced through Ron's head at the moment. He had to find a good excuse, one good enough to convince McGonagall, Ron was surprised of finding the right answer quite quickly.

"Some students are taking the mickey on me, you know for doing good in classes," he said, "Besides... Hermione is way better, she always has the right answer and I don't think that I need to-"

"Miss Granger is indeed a very good student but what she knows or not knows has nothing to do with this." the teacher stopped him frowning. "If you give me the names of these students I would see that things are solved"

"NO!" Ron practically yelled, he couldn't say any name to her. "They didn't actually said anything... they only whispered- I mean I think they were talking about me and-"

Professor McGonagall was looking at him as he moved around nervously on his chair, she was confused and curious, "This is a sensitive matter and it must be checked, specially if it is because of something so unjustified!"

Ron spent the next few minutes arguing that he couldn't give any names to her and after a while he kind of convinced the professor. He insisted in not actually hearing anything more than mumbles and McGonagall couldn't reprimand them for something that Ron thought he heard. Still she was looking at Ron suspiciously which he didn't need at all.

"I promise I'll stop failing" he said.

The teacher seemed to think about those words for a moment, surely wondering if he was being truthful or if she should let the students mocking him go. At the end she nodded reluctantly.

"It is not wise at all to let someone else's opinion affect you and your future like that, I thought you were smarter than that Mr Weasley."

Ron nodded.

"All right, I'll let you go for now but I will keep an eye open. You have as much potential as Miss Granger, if you could just learn a habit or two from her you could give a lot to your house"

Ron nodded again and he was quick to leave the classroom before the teacher changed her mind. Once outside he release a huge breath he was holding.

Everything was messy again. He couldn't be that bright and surprise everybody as the smartest first year ever, that would surely get him caught not only by Dumbledore but by the Ministry too and that would be very harmful once he went back to his time. Now Ron couldn't be his regular self either because of his mistakes on the first week, he was sure that McGonagall would be watching him not only on her class but on the others too. What was the answer? Being moderately smart? Wouldn't that affect the time too?

"What did she say?" Harry asked appearing in front of him. Ron jumped on his place.

"Woaw!" he said and when he noticed it was Harry he relaxed, "Blimey! don't scare me like that!"

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Sorry... what happened then?"

Ron sighed, "She just wanted to know why I did so good last class and so lousy this time"

"Oh, and why is that?"

The redhead looked carefully at his best friend, "Err... nothing really, I was only a bit ill but I'm better now. Let's get a nosh before the flying lessons"

Harry's eyes opened wide, "Yeah, hope I'm not the only one falling to the floor" he said. Ron smiled.

Soon they were all at the grounds for their first flying lesson. Ron was a little nervous, too much depended on Harry getting that Seeker position. It had to happen.

Madam Hooch didn't lose one second, "Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"'

Ron knew that as soon as he shouted the broom would fly into his hand so he moved his mouth without saying anything. As expected Harry was the only one with a broom in his hand when they followed the teacher's command. Ron grinned softly, this was his friend's moment.

The next thing Ron knew was that Madam Hooch was walking Neville to the infirmary, he would have liked to help the round faced boy this time but there was too much at stake.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say _Quidditch._ Come on, dear." were the words of Hooch as she disappeared.

Ron was hoping that Malfoy would still try to make fun of Neville and he wasn't disappointed.

"Ha! that great lump!" the Slytherin said as many house partners joined him.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Look!" said Malfoy as he grabbed something from the floor, Ron knew perfectly well what that was, "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch. Ron wanted to help Harry but he knew he had to back out of this one.

Malfoy smiled nastily.

"I'll leave it somewhere else for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled and soon he was following Malfoy in the air as the girls in the ground gasped.

"No!" shouted Hermione, "Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all into trouble."

Ron was staring at Harry and at Malfoy's scared reaction when his future wife snorted and turned to him, "Aren't you going to say anything to him?" she demanded.

For a moment the redhead was taken a back. "Who? Me?" he asked putting a finger over his chest.

"Yes you, we were told to stay here" she insisted.

It would have been nice to start talking to her but Harry needed to get into the Quidditch team and unfortunately it was still not time for Hermione to be friends with them. "Well Malfoy was being a prat, I'm with Harry on this one"

Hermione looked away with a frown.

Before Ron could think on something to say to her the shouts of the students raised and he quickly turned to the air to look at Harry bolting on his broom towards the shinning red ball. He was very close to it but the ball was going very fast too, approaching the floor quite quickly. Ron crossed his fingers and he ended up cheering with everyone else when Harry put his hand around the ball.

"HARRY POTTER!" the unmistakeable voice of Professor McGonagall came.

As they all picked their stuff the whispers about what was going to happen to Harry spread around, Ron couldn't care less about those mutterings and he was quick to follow Hermione. He wasn't supposed to but he really didn't thought about it and Harry was not around.

The bushy haired girl was quick to notice Ron's presence and she turned looking serious, "Are you following me?"

"Err... no, I-I- am going to the castle too." Ron said and walked by her side, glancing occasionally at her by the corner of his eye.

"You shouldn't be mad you know," he said after a while, "I didn't do anything"

"Of course you didn't! She told us to stay there, you should have stopped him"

"I couldn't do much really, he was already in the air, besides I'm sure he'll be fine"

As soon as they entered through the main doors Hermione walked hastily away from Ron. The redhead couldn't stop feeling sad at that, he knew that it was not time yet but it still hurt. He missed her way too much.

It was then that he got his first glimpse at Adrian Pucey since he arrived there, an automatic frown appeared on Ron's face. The Slytherin was a few feet away and he didn't even turned to look at Ron. Standing there the redhead didn't know what to think, he had been right about Pucey betraying them and even when the boy hadn't done anything yet Ron couldn't stop feeling the need of hexing his stupid arse all the way to the floor.

All the way Ron followed Pucey with the eyes until he left his sight, he was clenching his fists remembering all what the Slytherin had caused. Maybe Ron wouldn't be there if it wasn't for him but it was quite possible that the pale-eyed man would have found another person to do his dirty job.

Ron couldn't forget those unnatural blue eyes or the amused grin of that man as he spat names to him, he even mentioned Creevey. It was hard imagining all those people betraying them but it didn't matter now. Ron was here alone, that man had not followed him into the pool as far as he could remember and even if he had he surely couldn't have landed on the exact period of time... or timeline... or whatever. He have to be cautious either way but he wanted to believe that nobody from his time was there.

By the time dinner came Ron's mood was starting to lighten up, everything related to Harry had gone according to plan. As last time Fred and George came to congratulate Harry for his new spot in the Quidditch team and as soon as they left Malfoy appeared.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly while Crabbe and Goyle scowled at each side of Malfoy.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy and Ron interrupted him with a laugh.

Malfoy gritted his teeth and then moved his eyes to Ron looking red, "Shut up Weasel, I'll deal with you later." he said and turned his attention back to Harry, "Now Potter tonight, if you dare. Wizard's duel. Wands only - no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

Ron have known that this was coming and he knew that there was only one way to proceed. He would have loved to expose Malfoy and find a way to make that duel happen but he couldn't, they had to be lost on the castle that night, they had to see Fluffly.

"He has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm his second, who's yours?"

"Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."

When Malfoy left, Ron and Harry looked at each other. "What is a wizard's duel?" asked Harry. "And you are my second? what does that mean?"

"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron trying to not give it too much attention, "Don't worry people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at you. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. He expected you to refuse, anyway."

"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"

"Oh come on! you know that Leg-Locker curse I showed you. 'Sides if it comes to it you can always throw your wand away and punch him straight on the nose," Ron suggested.

"Excuse me." came Hermione's voice from across the table, "I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying. You mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"Well it's really none of your business," said Harry.

Hermione didn't look pleased. Ron moved his eyes between them, he didn't know what to do. Well, he did but he didn't want to, he didn't want to be rude to Hermione and leave her like that.

"I did won a few points, it wouldn't be really considerate if-"

"So what? Ron won points too" insisted Harry.

Hermione frowned but before she could answer Harry stood up, "Should we go?" he asked Ron.

The redhead was very conflicted but he ended up nodding and following his friend out of the table. As they moved away his blue eyes glimpsed at the bushy haired girl that they left behind.

Harry and Hermione weren't getting along, they didn't the previous time either at this point but Ron wasn't sure if things were more complicated now. He had to start acting as if Hermione really annoyed him, if he left all of that to Harry then maybe it would get to a point with both of them couldn't make peace and that would be disastrous.

He decided to think about what problems could that cause later, instead he spend the rest of the day trying to make Harry master the Leg-Locker curse. Harry wasn't going to need it that day since Malfoy wasn't going to show up but Ron couldn't say that to him.

When the time was right they walked down the staircase of the dormitories. Harry must have thought that everyone should be asleep by that time but Ron knew better.

"I can't believe you're really going to do this" Hermione sprung from a near chair in the common room wearing a pink bathrobe.

"Hermione?!" Ron said faking surprise but it was clear that his voice didn't show anger, in fact he was trying to contain a smile at the sight of his eleven year old wife trying to scold them.

"You?! What are you doing here?" Harry added.

"Stopping you from making a mistake of course"

Harry was frowning, "Couldn't you just leave us alone? we are not putting you in trouble!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped to Ron then, "Percy - he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

"Come on," Harry said to Ron. The black haired boy pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.

Hermione of course followed them out of the portrait hole. "You two don't you care about Gryffindor, only about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"We'll be all right, we won't lose any points because no-one would see us" Ron said softly.

"Just go away" added Harry.

"As you wish, but don't say I didn't warn you, you will remember it when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so going to get yourselves expelled."

Then the most unexpected thing happened, Hermione said the password and went inside the common room. The Fat Lady was on her portrait when last time she hadn't been, apparently they had come out yelling so much at each other that she didn't got a chance to get surprised and Ron hadn't notice her there.

The redhead was stunned looking at the now closed portrait. It was very wrong, how could he have not foreseen that? Last time they had come out at a moment when the Fat Lady was visiting another portrait and that caused Hermione and Neville to come with them, they probably came out a few minutes later or earlier... it didn't matter, the problem was that Hermione was supposed to see that third floor corridor. Ron didn't had a clue how she not being there could affect the future.

"Hermione wait..." he said weakly and tried to go after her but he was held back. Harry was now grabbing his arm looking confused.

Once again he had to decide between doing the things that he was supposed to and Hermione.

"What are you two doing here at this hour?!" said the Fat Lady now that the surprise had left her.

"Lets go!" said Harry to him.

"But... but..." mumbled a pale Ron moving his blue eyes between the portrait and Harry.

"We're running out of time!" his friend insisted.

Ron sighed and followed his friend.

They found Neville on the next turn but he didn't follow them, Harry gave him the password and he soon left after Hermione leaving only Ron and Harry to witness the three-headed dog. Things were going way too different and this could probably affect the whole stone searching investigation. What if things didn't go as last time on the trapdoor because of it? What if Hermione was not with them then? Ron paled, they couldn't do it without her.

He was way too lost in his thoughts on the way down, thinking on how could he fix things before returning to his own time. Harry even had to shake him to get his attention on a couple of occasions.

Fortunately everything else did go as it supposed to go with the exception that it was now Ron doing the _Alohomora_ on Fluffy's door. That was not entirely good though because that was another spell that he had explain how he learned it to Harry. He also pointed out the trap door to Harry once they were back at the common room.

When Ron saw his friend thinking in silence he knew that at least Harry was going in the right direction, doing the connections with that Gringotts' vault. However he had to find a way to let Hermione know about it too but the girl was different now, she wouldn't want to know anything about rule breaking, the task was going to be as difficult as stopping Quirrell altogether.

Ron had to do it though, he had messed too much things already. He was an auror after all, he had to know a way to put things back to normal, his knowledge should be useful for more than just first year spells and answering school questions. If he was ever going to do something right this was his time, he had to recover his life.


	10. The Golden Duo

In a certain way the days that followed the meeting with Fluffly were similar to how Ron remembered them. Malfoy was of course outraged that they hadn't been expelled and he kept annoying them wherever they went. Ron called him a coward a couple of times and insisted on dueling him for real, the Slytherin only answered with insults and nervous sneers.

Hermione wasn't talking to them either even when she hadn't seen the three-headed dog with them. Ron hoped that her mood cooled down faster, after all they have been out of bed quite late but at least they didn't drag her into the rule breaking this time. He didn't know how much her absence at the third floor corridor could affect the future, he had to find a way to let her know what happened there.

The main difference with last time was that Ron had decided to keep his promise to McGonagall to avoid suspicions. He wasn't trying to answer all the questions in class or to take the spotlight away from Hermione but at least now he was answering correctly whenever he was directly quizzed about something. Most of the times Ron tried to wait for the bushy haired girl to finish the assignments before getting them right himself, that was easy on boring subjects but whenever he had Charlie's old wand on his hand he found it very difficult to make mistakes on simple spells. Transfiguration was a special case, Professor McGonagall kept a close eye on him so Ron was considerably ahead there, Hermione didn't appear to be very happy about it but Harry appreciated the help with his homework.

Ron soon found out that talking and acting like an eleven year old was not easy at all, it required all of his attention but he had to do it right and blend as any other normal student if he didn't want people wondering about who he really was. It was hard to listen to Harry's theories about the package at Gringotts and trying to look puzzled at them, he had to pretend that he didn't knew exactly what that was.

"Whatever it is it has to be important, why else would they keep it like that?" Harry used to say, Ron limited himself to nodding and changing the subject.

It was an exhausting task but at least Ron was confident that the headmaster didn't suspect anything yet. The redhead was scared of letting something slip in a misstep specially when his brothers were around, even two weeks later it was still difficult not to smile whenever he looked at Fred.

A week after the events on the third floor corridor Harry received a parcel in the mail, Ron knew that it contained a broom from Professor McGonagall and he smiled. Harry's Quidditch practices were what he was waiting for, Ron would be finally able to get some time at the library and that would let him move forward with his plans of returning to his own time.

When they left the hall hoping to get their first look at the broom - second first look for Ron - they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.

"It's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry dead jealous, "You really made it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them."

Ron smirked.

"It's not any old broomstick Malfoy," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home? sure nothing close to this" Ron grinned at Harry. "A comet perhaps? they look flashy but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "You and your brothers have to save up twig by twig I suppose."

Ron tried to look as if the comment hadn't affect him this time, "Keep your filfthy money Malfoy, maybe you will need it to get into the team next year"

Malfoy was fuming and he even spat a few more nasty words to Ron before Professor Flitwick appeared, Ron was starting to wonder if that would change this time too but apparently they were on the professor's way to his next class.

Soon they bolted back to the common room between smirks talking about Malfoy's face when Professor Flitwick said that Harry was allowed the broom, there they found Hermione who made a disapproving comment about the broom, Harry frowned.

"Can you leave us alone? I thought you weren't even talking to us" said Harry.

Ron looked at the bushy hair as it disappeared from their sight with a snort, "Err... Harry?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think that... well ma-maybe... what if she's not that bad?"

Harry stared at him as he had just told him that he was really Malfoy's brother or something like it, "Are you serious? she's all bossy and she can't seem to keep herself to her own business..."

"Yeah I know but we don't really know her, maybe if we-"

The conversation was cut off since Seamus and Dean came then to pick their things for the next class and Harry and Ron had to follow. By the time the lessons of the day were over and they returned to unwrap the parcel Harry seemed to have forgotten about Ron ever mentioning Hermione. Ron decided to let it go for now and headed towards the library, Harry's first practice only allowed him for an hour or so before he had to return but it would be enough for a first trip, hopefully there would be earlier Quidditch practices later.

All the way to the library he kept wondering about seeing Hermione but once there he couldn't see her at first, he decided to focus on his task, he had little time and Hermione was surely still mad at them.

"Now what?" he whispered to himself. He didn't know where to start and he couldn't just go to Madam Pince and ask her about time travel books, "Think Ron, think"

He walked towards the first shelf and at that moment he noticed the bushy brown hair at one of the tables in the back, he forced his eyes back to the books, trying to pretend that he hadn't seen her.

Time travel books were pretty hard to find, if there were any at all. He ended up picking one with the word _Time_ in its title only to be surprised with a book meant for speeding up potions.

Ron gave up and decided to grab one related to the Ministry for a first read but when he went swiftly through its pages he discovered that it mentioned almost nothing about the Department of Mysteries. "Bugger! this will take forever" he muttered in a low voice.

At one point Hermione raised her eyes from her desk and noticed him there, there was a quick gesture of surprise of recognizing Ron. The redhead noticed it and smiled but Hermione frowned and moved her eyes back to her book without leaving it again before Ron had to return to the common room. It was really disappointing for him.

The days passed and Ron grew anxious of not finding anything, Harry's practices gave him around four hours a week to check at the library but even if those had been twenty hours it would have been the same. Ron just couldn't find anything of value in that old place and by the time October came he was desperate. He have been counting with returning to his time by then but he was just as lost as at the beginning.

What was he going to do? He couldn't stay there.

All what Ron had found in more than a month of searching was a small paragraph talking about time travel theory on a definitions book, he had found the heavy book by accident but it haven't help much either, all what those yellow pages said was that time travel was possible and time turners were mentioned but without real details of how they worked. Ron rolled his eyes at it, he knew that already.

There were days when he really felt disappointed and lost but some others he remembered his past life and tried to keep going. Hermione, the one from his time, would have insisted in him not giving up and so he had to keep trying until he was holding her in his arms again, even if that meant going through every heavy and boring book on Hogwarts. He was not allowed to give up.

One day he was holding an old book that mentioned Unspeakables on an usually empty aisle when a voice from behind startled him.

"What are you looking for?"

It was Hermione's. The girl have been giving him weird looks for the past month whenever he was at the library but she hadn't say to him more than a couple of sentences. Ron tried to tell her about Fluffy a few times but she always cut him off saying that she wasn't interested in what they did in their rule breaking.

Ron was so surprised about her starting the talk now that he almost let his book fall.

"Err... a book?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Of course you're looking for a book, we're in a library. I meant what book are you looking for in this aisle?" she asked puzzled moving her eyes around.

"Well something for homework... mmmm Flitwick's that is!"

The girl looked surprised, "Charms? there are no Charms books in here. Only books about magical institutions and famous discoveries"

And that was exactly why Ron was there, she had caught him.

"Eh yeah I know, I have my Charms book at my table, only came for some background reading"

Hermione stared at him like trying to decide if she should believe him. Ron wondered if she had been paying attention to him and what he had been picking in the library the last month, he hoped not but it was quite possible since she didn't want him to beat her in class. Hermione was ahead of him in almost every single subject and that was in part because Ron was still kind of lazy in delivering his homeworks, even so the girl didn't seem entirely satisfied. There was always something more to learn for her, as always.

"_Inventions born in the Ministry of Magic: Marvels and Mistakes_?" she asked seriously.

Ron realized that he had left the book's title quite visible and his future wife was staring at it, "Yeah well... background reading" he said smiling but the bushy haired girl wasn't convinced, if there was something as bad as McGongall keeping an eye on him that was Hermione thinking that there was something suspicious with him.

Suddenly Ron felt a little brave and even when he wasn't supposed to be her friend yet he spoke to her, "Em.- Wa-wanna share a table? we both have Charms homework and we can- well, if you want to."

Hermione opened her eyes wide and seemed to be considering it for a moment but then she frowned, "No thank you, I am leaving already" she said and walked out of there hastily. It was then that Ron remembered that he didn't have a Charms book on his table and if Hermione had accepted his offer she would have realized that he lied. Ron had to think things through, he could get himself in a lot of trouble.

The thing that Ron dreaded the most happened, Halloween came and he still was no way near to return to his own time. He missed his life a lot and he was once again facing something that he could really mess a lot. If he managed to do things right he could end up being friends with both Hermione and Harry by the end of the day, if he failed... well he didn't even want to think about that.

Ron had gone through it a lot the previous days but that morning he woke up knowing that there was only one way of making things work, Hermione had to be in that bathroom and for that he would have to upset her again. He couldn't stand doing it, hurting her like that, however he had to do it if things were to return to normal. Maybe once they were friends again she would listen to the third corridor story and time would go back to normal.

All the way to Charms he was nervous, he couldn't stand what he was going to do, it had been years since he had promised himself never to hurt her again and there he was planning on how to repeat those awful words. How could he be the cause of his tears like that?

Maybe he could do it without being such a git this time.

The plan was not really good, he was a good student now and he couldn't fail the levitation spell as bad as last time. He had to try and fake it though or even make Harry team with Hermione this time, maybe Harry could be the one having the whole problem there. Unfortunately all of Ron's possibilities vanished when Professor Flitwick teamed Hermione with Dean.

The whole class went by without any problem and on their way out Ron had to improvise. He kept throwing little glances at his back and when he saw Hermione close enough he proceeded as last time hoping that the lack of a struggle in class couldn't affect the outcome.

Ron took a deep breath, closed his eyes a bit and forced himself to go on with it, "Did you saw Dean in class? It seemed like he was not having such a good time with Hermione" he said in a loud voice.

Harry turned confused and with good reason, Dean had frowned a little when he was teamed with Hermione but they didn't seem to have a problem at all during the class.

"Err some people had said that she's annoying... I think" Ron continued doubtfully.

As expected Hermione rushed pushing Harry a little on her way out.

"I think she heard you" Harry was looking at him awkwardly.

"Did she?" said Ron feeling like the worst person ever, "Well she must've noticed something, she's doesn't have a lot of friends."

Harry seemed surprised by Ron's words of course, ever since the train Ron hadn't said a single bad thing about Hermione. Some times he tried to keep her away for the sake of the timeline but he was never as rude as Harry, now even Ron's friend looked uncomfortable by Hermione leaving like that.

The rest of the day Ron felt awful, Hermione didn't show up for the rest of the classes and even when that was a good sign it made Ron really sad. Harry noticed of course but he didn't say anything. He had asked Ron before what he had been doing in the library and Ron just shrugged at him, Ron could have tried to befriend Hermione then but he knew that it would have pulled him away from Harry. Keeping things as they were supposed to be was a bloody difficult task.

"I think I heard Parvati say that Hermione was crying in the girl's bathroom, do you think that was because of what I said?" Ron asked Harry, they had not pass near Parvati this time but Ron had to find a way to let Harry know.

Harry raised an eyebrow surely wondering when Ron had heard that but it was his time to shrug uncomfortably.

They were walking into the Great Hall when Harry spoke, "Maybe you didn't hear her right" he said.

"Eh?" asked Ron confused then he followed Harry's eyes and what he found there made him pale. Hermione was there at dinner, her eyes a little red but it seemed like she have been calmed for some time now.

Ron's jaw dropped, now what? He hadn't been rude enough or maybe some other thing had changed, he wouldn't know. At the end all of what Ron had said was useless if she was there.

Harry dragged him to a seat and there he kept looking at Hermione, thinking on what he could do now. The girl noticed him looking once and she just moved her eyes away frowning.

Ron had to do something and he had to do it soon before Quirrell came through the door. He couldn't make Hermione go to the bathroom now but he still had a crazy idea, so as the delicious food appeared before them he forced himself to his feet.

"Err... Harry? Have to go to the loo" he said loud enough for Hermione to hear a couple of seats away, and he walked out there in a hurry.

All his way through the first floor he kept hitting his head with the palm of the hand, blaming himself for everything turning wrong. He had done it again, he had messed time in a awful way. Surely if Hermione or Harry were here instead they wouldn't make a mess like that, not that big.

The troll incident was what made them friends in the first place and he could have ruin that already. His only chance now was that Harry and Hermione came after him as they had come after Hermione once. It was a long shot but it was all what he could do about it.

Soon he heard the troll not far away in a hallway but he kept his distance, he had to give enough time to Harry and Hermione to come help him. Harry would surely come but what about Hermione, she was mad at him now and he couldn't fix things by saving her from a troll this time. Would she come?

Then he saw it, a big and grey lumpy body, hard as a rock and with short thick legs. The smell was not better this time either.

Ron knew that he could take him right at that moment, it would require just a little flick of his wand but he had to wait, maybe his plan would work. He couldn't just stand there though, he tried to think what to do but surely tricking it to the girl's bathroom was pointless now, after a quick decision he rushed to the mountain troll diving in the last moment.

"_Depulso_!" he yelled smashing the troll slightly against the opposite wall and then he was standing on the other side of it. If Harry and Hermione came they would have the troll blocked from both sides and they would get to participate too.

The thing shook his head as chunks of the wall fell to the floor and moved towards Ron with a growl. Ron kept playing with it for a few minutes, keeping it from leaving but not defeating it yet. At that moment he heard rushed steps and his heart raced, it sounded like only one person but who? For an instant he found himself wishing that Harry had stayed behind so that it would be Hermione coming to him.

"Ron!" a voice yelled and the redhead felt a mix of relief and disappointment at the same time. It was Harry, only Harry.

"Harry! where's Her-... I-I-... what are you doing here?" he tried to control his surprise.

"Professor Quirrell said about the troll, then he fainted," Harry yelled with his eyes wide opened as the troll noticed him and tried to hit him with his huge club. Fortunately Harry moved faster and the only damage was received by the wall.

The troll had hit the walls a lot before Harry arrived so Ron had his fair share of things to throw at it, he couldn't be using spells that he wasn't supposed to know now.

Ron hit him hard enough to get the troll to look at him menacingly, he then went inside an empty classroom and the smelly thing followed him there. Harry was still outside so he took the chance to use a non-verbal spell on a yellow tapestry and he threw it over the troll, when Harry came the troll was blind by the fabric trying to swing its club all around.

Chairs were blocking its way but the troll didn't fell and it soon tore the tapestry apart.

"Do something!" Harry yelled throwing at it a heavy book that he found on a table.

"Me?!"

"You are better with spells!"

Ron had been trying to let Harry be part of the action too, after all he had to be ready for things like those but he couldn't deny that Harry expected more from him now.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" Ron said pointing at the club, that was the only spell that he associated with this event.

The club indeed flew away from the troll's hand but unfortunately Ron stumbled a bit and missed the thing's head this time. He couldn't blame himself, that head was so small that it was hard to hit.

The heavy feet started moving towards Ron with a nasty shout, clubless. Ron was thinking on what could he do with the small number of spells that he was supposed to know when Harry acted, he must have thought that Ron was in trouble.

"_Locomotor Mortis_!" he yelled.

The spell from Ron's friend was not strong enough to put the troll's legs together but it did manage to make the hard grey thing stumble and fall. Ron ran to the other side and reached Harry who was by the door.

"That was brilliant!" Ron shouted at Harry with his first real smile of the day, they were both a little covered in dust.

"It didn't work! look!"

Indeed the mountain troll was raising from the floor and it had found its heavy club again. Ron was wondering if rushing out of there and leaving the thing for the professors was a good thing when the door swung open and a red spell hit the big troll stunning it to the floor.

Professor McGonagall had been the one throwing the spell, Snape and Quirrell were with her as Ron expected. The man with the turban faked a sick look at the troll in the floor.

"Merlin! What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with wide opened in surprise. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

"I needed to go to the loo professor" said Ron awkwardly. "I didn't know"

"I am aware of that Mr Weasley but I don't see any of you in a bathroom" she said looking serious. Ron was about to reply when she moved her eyes to Harry, "And Mr Potter, you should have come to warn us about Mr Weasley. Can you imagine what could have happened here if Miss Granger hadn't let us know?"

Ron's eyes popped opened, of course Hermione had heard about him going to the bathroom but her decision was to let know someone more able to deal with a troll. He wondered if she had tried to stop Harry from coming or if Harry had tried to convince her of following him. It turned out that his last minute plan had been very close of working.

Professor McGonagall asked for the whole story then and they told them everything. McGonagall was impressed of both of them holding the troll for that long but this time they went back to the common room without points in their favor or against them.

The twins wanted all the details of course but Ron's attention was fixed on Hermione. The girl had been walking around nervously but when she saw them walk into the common room she let out a relief sigh. She didn't talk to them and from the conversations around Ron found out that she had tried to follow Harry after letting McGonagall know but the teachers didn't let her.

Even when things could have gone a lot worse they were nowhere near to being ok. Ron didn't know if Hermione was still mad at them or if she would try to talk to them the next morning but he knew that they were not friends yet. It was still only Harry and him, there was no Golden Trio and without Golden Trio the future was at risk.

Suddenly the search for a way to return became less important. Ron had made too many mistakes already and this was something that he couldn't leave without fixing.


	11. Countercurse

At first time next day Ron walked directly to Hermione, the girl was already heading towards the portrait hole so she didn't notice him until both of them were already out of the common room.

"Err... Hermione?" Ron said in a low voice.

The bushy haired girl turned surprised and her eyes grew a bit, "Ron? em, good morning"

For a moment Ron stared at her without saying anything, that girl was his future wife and as he looked at her he could almost see the older Hermione in her, she even had that same intrigued expression that Ron knew so well. Meanwhile the girl had raised an eyebrow waiting for Ron to say something and when he noticed it he shook his head a little and focused on the young girl before him, "I just- well I wanted to say thank you. You know for getting help last night and- well that, Professor McGonagall barely got there in time"

It didn't seem like Hermione was expecting that, she blushed slightly, "It was the right thing to do, I know that Harry went after you but a teacher or a prefect needed to know, they surely have more ways of helping with that sort of situation"

"Well thanks"

As Hermione nodded Harry appeared from the portrait hole, it was clear that he was not expecting to find Ron talking to Hermione there.

"Eh... Hi" said Harry weirdly.

"Hi" answered Hermione.

There was an odd silence after which Hermione decided to continue her way towards breakfast, Ron said that they were going down too and Harry gave him a strange look at that. The three of them walked down mostly in silence, the few times that Ron tried to start a conversation between them let him know that Hermione was not mad at them but things were still not how they were supposed to be. Once in the Great Hall they didn't even sat together, it felt wrong.

Harry started talking to him about the troll fight and even Seamus and Dean asked eagerly about it. Ron was right next to him and at same time he wasn't, more than ever he was torn between staying there and going towards Hermione. He wanted badly to start talking to her and this time there was nothing stopping him from doing it, in fact he should be talking to her now, Ron had messed things more than ever and he had to make sure that they were friends before leaving.

At Harry's next practice Ron went straight to the library but this time he didn't care about looking for time travel books, instead he decided to look for Hermione and once he found her he walked to her and tried to continue what he started before Harry interrupted them. He apologized for what he said on Halloween and even when Hermione was a little confused she accepted his words.

Those days were pretty weird. Ron spent most of his time with Harry, specially helping him with his homework since the Quidditch practices were taking a lot from him. On the other hand whenever Harry was at the pitch Ron was at the library, sometimes looking for an answer to that time pool but others trying to be friends with Hermione again. A couple of times she even agreed reluctantly to do homework together.

Hermione still needed to relax a bit about breaking the rules or studying all the time but to convince her of that Ron needed more time than the few hours a week that the Quidditch practices gave him.

One day he was walking with Harry through the school grounds when they saw Snape limping. Ron's eyes grew big and he tried to put on Harry's head the idea that the professor could had tried to go through the trap door on Halloween. Harry was not as convinced as last time since he hadn't heard the professor talking about it but still he was eager to blame something on the potions master.

At least that was going fine, even if things were quite different Ron only needed to bring Hermione in and things would soon be back on track. It was not easy though, Harry doubted that Hermione was that nice to be around and when the three of them were close Harry only talked to Ron and mostly about Quidditch.

As the first game approached Ron became as nervous as Harry but not for the same reasons. Hermione needed to be there and somehow knock Quirrell as she put blue flames in Snape's robes, doing that without making Quirrell or Hermione suspicious was going to be quite a hard task. Ron missed his life, in his old job he only needed to worry about paper work and catching the bad guys - and they happen to be quite easy to spot - he was not used to elaborated plans were so many things could go wrong anymore. Hermione was usually the one doing those kind of plans.

Sooner rather than later the match day arrived, Ron was beyond nervousness. He had come way too far with the whole travelling through time experience and he wanted to have his old life back again but in order to return he had to set things right first, no matter how hard it was for him to be planning things completely alone he had to do it. There was no other way.

At eleven o'clock all the school seemed to be on the stands, staring at the place from where the Quidditch players were supposed to come out, cheering and laughing. Ron pretended to be one of them but the truth was that he couldn't stop moving his blue eyes around until he found Quirrell. He was looking straight at the man with the turban when something came up to him, what if the man didn't try to jinx Harry's broom this time because of the things that Ron had already changed? Could he still make Harry and Hermione suspect Snape? What would happen if they didn't?

Then the redhead was brought out of his thoughts as the roar of the crowd let it know that the players were out and ready to start the match. Ron noticed Harry turning to them with a weird smile, Hermione was at Ron's side with a small banner supporting Gryffindor. On his trips to the library Ron had explain the basics of Quidditch to her and he convinced her to work together on the red and gold banner at the last moment. It was small but good enough, it even had the spell for changing its colours that Hermione had used last time.

"...And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor - what an excellent Chaser she is, and rather attractive, too -"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

At the distant argument between Lee Jordan and Professor McGonagall Ron smiled, he didn't had to worry about anything before Harry's broom started to move weirdly around. Ron convinced himself that it would, he hadn't done anything big enough to stop Quirrell from attempting the same thing this time.

Soon the redhead found himself enjoying the game trying not to be distracted, with all the tension Ron had rarely enjoyed anything from his new Hogwarts experience as much as he would have liked. As Katie Bell scored in the highs he saw Hermione smiling too, the girl was not pretty fond to Quidditch he knew that but this was the first time she ever saw a match and that was surely worthy of attention.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!"

Ron moved closer to Hermione to give Hagrid enough space to join them.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, he had a large pair of binoculars on him, "It isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," said Ron. "Mostly a chasers' game so far. Hagrid, this is Hermione"

As Hermione introduced herself to the half-giant the action in the pitch continued. George had changed the direction of a bludger heading to Angelina and Adrian Pucey barely dodged it, Ron found himself wishing that the ball had hit Pucey right in the face. He didn't like the stupid git of Marcus Flint or any of the other Slytherin players but ever since the incident at the Ministry he realized that he disliked Pucey even more.

"A neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve - back to Johnson and back to Spinnet - Oh no! Slytherin has taken the Quaffle again and that's an unexpected turn - someone has to stop him! no, no, no Bugger! Slytherin scores -"

The resonating voice of Lee Jordan really transported Ron back to the days, by then he was shouting advices to Harry that his friend couldn't hear, cheering loudly every Gryffindor play and at each Slytherin goal. Ron was paying special attention to Oliver Wood since he now saw his Keeper's movements with different eyes.

"Did you see that?! Merlin that was amazing! - It really is more difficult than it looks- you'll see it's all in the wrist -" the redhead was saying to Hermione at one of Wood's saves.

The match continued and for a moment it appeared as if Ron had completely forgotten about Quirrell.

" - that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and - OUCH - that must have hurt -"

There were more bludgers tossed around and Dean Thomas soon discovered that red cards didn't exist on Quidditch. Back in his time Ron went to a few Muggle football games with Hermione's father and he really enjoyed them but he always thought that the cards thing slowed down the action a lot.

Then it happened.

"Something's happening to Harry, Look" Hermione said staring at the air.

Something clicked in Ron's head and he remembered that he had a mission to do, he moved his eyes quickly to where Quirrell was and there he saw him moving his mouth without taking his eyes apart from Harry, nearby Snape noticed Harry too and started casting the counterspell.

"Does this has something to do with that berk of Flint?" Seamus asked, Harry hadn't been knocked by the Slytherin this time but in their eyes there was no one else around to blame.

"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "nothing can interfere with a broomstick but powerful Dark magic - no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

Hermione was moving her eyes around the pitch clearly confused so Ron moved closer to her trying to push her in the right direction, "Maybe it's Snape, he might be doing something to Harry, we have to- "

"Professor Snape? what do you mean? he can't be doing anything to Harry, he is a professor" Hermione answered startling Ron.

The redhead was about to mention Snape trying to get the stone when it hit him. Hermione didn't saw Snape limping, she didn't even knew about Fluffy. As his eyes grew big he noticed how every mistake he had done was coming back at him but he couldn't hesitate now, he could still find a way to fix it.

"But you know how he has been with Harry! and I know that he is- well- dunno just gotta feeling there!"

Hermione frowned as Harry shook in the air one more time, Ron got nervous he had to move fast and for the first time since he could remember he found himself cheering at Snape, hoping that he could keep Harry there long enough.

Ron rushed and picked Hagrid's binoculars then he gave them to Hermione. "Look at him! he is muttering something and he doesn't take his ugly eyes away from Harry! that is a clear sign that someone is using either a curse or a countercurse on an object, you must know that! we have to break his concentration" Ron said desperately as Hermione looked through the binoculars.

"But- that doesn't mean anything... I don't know why he is like that with Harry but from that to hurting a student?" said Hermione doubtful and confused, "Besides you said it yourself maybe he is casting a counterspell on the broom, protecting Harry"

As Harry's broom moved violently again the color drained from Ron and his jaw dropped opened. He had done it again, why did he even had to mention the bloody countercurse?

"What's up on with yer two?" asked Hagrid moving closer to them, "Ye know what' going on?"

"Snape is cursing Harry's broom" said Ron swiftly.

Hermione spoke before the confused Hagrid could have a chance to say a word, "We don't know that, and Professor Quirrell is also moving his mouth and staring at Harry, they can't both be jinxing him" she said still looking through the binoculars.

Ron froze paler than ever. Then a lot of gasps echoed as Harry made the most abrupt movement yet leaving him almost hanging from one arm, the people were already noticing and Ron and Hermione were supposed to be on their way to Snape and Quirrell already. Ron's heart skipped a bit looking at his friend in the air, if they took too much time then things would be worst than ever.

He grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her out of there, "Let's go!"

"Ron! where are we going?"

"We have to do something, we have to stop Snape!" he said as he moved them through the stands.

"You are not sure that this is really a jinx, and besides even if I believed you how do you know we have to stop Professor Snape and not Professor Quirrell"

"I just know it ok!" said Ron as Hermione frowned at him.

Fortunately when they reached the teachers' stands Harry was still on his broom, the twins were circling under him, Angelina and Katie were going there too.

"R-Ron?" Hermione said then.

"What's wrong?" Ron turned to her, her face was a little red. As soon as Hermione noticed the blue eyes she moved her sight to their hands still clasped together. Ron hadn't let go of her as she dragged her out of their places.

"Err yeah..." the redhead said releasing her hand.

Another surprised gasp escaped the crowd and as Ron saw Harry still battling on the air his thoughts returned to what they were supposed to be doing.

"We could use those blue flames that you learned" hurried Ron and when he saw Hermione's eyes growing big he continued, "I saw you doing them before"

The girl was doubtful but she let it go and moved on Quirrell's direction, Ron was startled, "Hermione! where are you going?" he said under the crowd.

Hermione turned and talked to him on a whisper, "Professor Quirrell is closer, if he loses focus and the broom returns to normal then we will know it was him. We can go see Professor Snape if it doesn't -"

Ron paled, "NO! it is Snape! you have to-" he tried to say but the girl had almost reached Quirrell and she had her wand already out.

The redhead panicked, as soon as she knocked Quirrell and noticed that the spell ended she would know that it was not Snape. That would be terrible, and he didn't even want to think what would happen if Quirrell realized that Hermione had caught him.

He was running out of options and from the distance he could see the blue flames coming out of Hermione's wand, so he used his last desperate resource. When Ron made sure that no one was looking at him he turned his wand to where Snape was sitting, a few places up in the stands and threw a non-verbal _depulso_ knocking the potions master out of his bench. Ron had acted just in time because at that moment Quirrell started moving around with his robes in blue flames and not far from him Hermione moved her eyes to where Snape was sitting.

A very large sigh escaped from Ron surely at the same time that Harry recovered the control of his broom, now Hermione would not know who was the one casting the curse and who was trying to help. He hoped that it was enough, at least for now.

On the distance Snape stood up and when he realized that Harry had gained the control of his broom back he moved his eyes around and started fuming, fortunately he was not going to be able to spot Ron in the middle of the crowd.

Ron followed a silent Hermione all the way to Hagrid but before they could reach their stands the roar exploded.

"Where were you!? you missed it all!" said Seamus.

"Yes that last play was brilliant!" added Dean, "one moment he was racing Flint through the pitch and then he put his fingers around the snitch and the game was over!" behind him Neville was nodding shyly.

It was a natural description as Ron had heard many plays before, it was perfectly normal and still there was something off with it. At first Ron didn't know what but soon his eyes sprung open, "Wait! you said _his fingers_? Like h-he caught it? - with his hand?" Ron asked raising his voice.

Dean looked weirdly as the crowd started leaving the pitch, "Em... yeah... wasn't he supposed to?"

Ron was dead frozen, with the whole thing about Snape and Quirrell he had completely forgotten about that. Harry was supposed to catch his first snitch with the mouth, that was going to be important at the end. The redhead almost let himself fall overwhelmed by how bad things had turned out, it seemed like no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't, he was not up for the task after all.

Hagrid went for Harry and took him to his hut and when Ron started moving there sadly he noticed that Hermione was walking the other way with the rest of the school.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"I'm going back to the castle," she said, she was not happy, "where else would I go?"

"What?! No! you have to come to Hagrid's we'll talk about the game and about Harry's broom and- it was jinxed! I told you"

Hermione snorted, "I know it was jinxed, I was there too. What I I don't know is how you knew it so quickly and without even putting on the binoculars" she started making Ron pale, "You don't need me, you already know it was either Professor Snape or Professor Quirrell"

"Wait no! it was not Quirrell, I knocked Snape and then the curse-"

"Well I distracted Professor Quirrell too, if you had only waited a little longer we would be sure of who it was but it could be either one of them"

"That's not fair! I had to!... he was- well-... Harry was up there! he was going to fall!"

Hermione snorted and decided that Ron's excuse was somewhat valid, "All what I'm saying is that it could be Professor Quirrell too"

"Of course not! It has to be Snape!" Ron was completely overwhelmed, he didn't want to lie to Hermione like that but he needed her to stay away from Quirrell, "Quirrell is a folly"

"That doesn't mean anything, we should keep an eye on both. What if Professor Quirrell is pretending to be like that on his classes, he might be dangerous."

"Rubbish! Snape is trying to kill Harry." said Ron desperately now, "Look the day we got out to duel Malfoy we got into the third floor corridor and there-"

"That's forbidden!"

"I know but-"

"I don't want to know and you were very irresponsible in going there in the first place, you know we're not allowed in there. You could have lost a lot of points!"

"But we did and-"

Ron was desperate but a frown formed on Hermione and it was clear that the girl couldn't understand why Ron wouldn't doubt Quirrell even a bit, "Think whatever you like" she said with her eyes wide and with a snort she walked away.

"Wait Hermione!" Ron tried to say.

Hermione turned briefly, "Tell Harry that I hope he is ok, and if I were you I would watch out for Professor Quirrell too" with that she moved back to the castle. He thought about following her but that would only complicate things with Harry and what Hagrid was supposed to tell them.

Ron had messed it big time now. Just when things appeared to be moving forward this happens. He had been trying to get close to Hermione but now it seemed like all what he had done since Halloween was for nothing. He knew her, she was not going to drop the whole Quirrell thing. Now what?

As if that wasn't enough there was also the snitch, he didn't know exactly how would that affect the future but it was surely something that he couldn't fix back. He didn't know how could he even if he got the chance.

Ron moved his eyes back to Hagrid's hut and knew what was waiting for him there but he could also mess that up. He could make Hagrid talk more about Fluffy but how was he going to let Harry know about Flamel if Hagrid didn't let it slip?

Everything felt wrong, just like that day when he first put his foot on the Ministry's Atrium. Things were not beyond repair but he got the same sensation that something worse was coming. How was he going to deal with Norbert, the forest or the stone if he couldn't even put things right up to this point?

At that moment, even with all the knowledge he had, Ron Weasley felt completely uncertain of what was going to happen. Dozens of people were returning to the castle not far away and he felt lonelier than ever.


	12. A Hollow Reflection

Snape spent the next days trying to find out who had hexed him during the match, the potions teacher was dead furious about it and he made that pretty clear on each one of his classes. One could imagine that with all what had happened he would be very busy keeping an eye on Quirrell but it didn't seem so, at times it appeared as if all what Snape really wanted was to get back at whoever had thrown him out of his seat.

The match was a total disaster for Ron but he at least could be sure that Snape was not going to track that one back at him, after all he was only a first year and he couldn't have possibly done a spell like that. Even Hermione was having a hard time trying to believe that Ron got to Snape on time and that was just another reason to be careful around her.

The bushy haired girl was still talking to him whenever they saw each other at the library but she now used a dry tone on him, it was clear that the girl was not going to be as friendly as before unless he admitted something about Quirrell. Ron couldn't though, that would be very dangerous for her and it was better to keep her as far away from the turban man as possible. Unfortunately Ron was not doing a good job with that either since even he knew that the reasons that he gave Hermione to not suspect Quirrell were mostly rubbish.

A week later during one of Defence against Dark Arts' classes Ron's heart almost stopped, Quirrell was faking his usual nervous manners as he said a few words about Bowtruckles but right then and out of nowhere Hermione's hand was raised into the air.

"Ee- we-ell, emm y-yes Miss... Miss... Gra-anger?" said the man under Voldermort's control, "Did y-you missed someth-hing...?" Ron had to recognize that he looked truly horrified of Hermione asking him complex questions about Bowtruckles, he was a pretty good actor.

"No professor, sorry. My doubt is not related to Bowtruckles." at this the whole class turned to her, Seamus looked specially eager to start talking about anything else. "I am curious about spells and counter-spells"

Ron paled and his quill fell from his hand.

"Spells... and co-co-counter- spells?"

"Yes," the bushy haired girl said eagerly, "it is not in the topics that we're studying right now, I know. Still I was checking this book the other day and it popped out, I was wondering if it could have anything to do with what happened to Harry's broom during the game"

Now even Quirrell turned serious for a brief instant. Ron didn't know what to do or say, he wanted to pull from Hermione's sleeve and tell her to stop but he couldn't, all what he was able to do was move his blue eyes impatiently between the professor and the girl. At his side Harry's eyebrows raised a bit, he seemed a little confused as the hissing spread across the classroom.

When the man in the front didn't continue Hermione took the chance, "I read that you have to keep eye contact with the item you are jynxing at all time but I was hoping that maybe you could know more signs that can be identified, I am really curious"

That was a lie of course, all the signs of counter-spells could be relatively easy to find in the library, Hermione already knew the answer to that question all what she wanted was to see Quirrell's reaction.

"Th-hat's too adva-anced for this class, and I-I... well I-I can't remember much about it now. It's- well.. let's be-better stay with Bowtruckles"

At that the turban man continued his lesson swiftly without leaving Hermione any chance to protest. Quirrell kept acting the entire time exactly as he was supposed to but Ron didn't miss the cold eyes he threw at Hermione after that, things were more complicated than he thought, one little mistake was something he couldn't afford now.

Ron headed immediately after his future wife as soon as the class was over but since he kept insisting on Snape being the only possible culprit he was soon left alone. As Hermione turned left on the next hallway Harry reached the nervous Ron. Harry of course knew already about the whole spells and counter-spells theory but he believed it was all Snape's doing.

The day of the match Ron had to ask Hagrid more questions than expected to get him to slip the name of Nicolas Flamel, he had thought of that as a small victory, as long as they were on track on the stone he could still put everything back together. Now he didn't care. How could he care about the stone if a first year Hermione was there being a threat to Voldemort, if she kept asking things like that and she turned too pesky for him... what would he do then?

Ron shuddered, he didn't even want to think about that, he had to keep Hermione safe and away from that monster.

Those were very tense days for the redhead. He kept insisting on Hermione to stop pushing Quirrell but the girl weirdly believed that she was doing the right thing. Every class Ron's hands trembled under his desk wishing that this was not the day that Hermione said too much. Sometimes he even imagined Quirrell being discovered, those wildest thoughts always ended up with Voldemort revealing himself and Ron fighting him in the middle of a class full of first years with two of the most important persons in his life there.

Hermione did ask similar things a couple of times more but fortunately the Christmas break arrived before Quirrell had real suspicions about her. In a way it was relaxing, Ron had plenty of time to think about how to stop her from altering Quirrell before classes started. However the little farewell he was able to say to Hermione was so formal that he was left spiritless and missing her as soon as she headed for that train. This was going to be the first Christmas that he spent without her in a long time.

Ron had to stay in Hogwarts for the holidays, just as last time his family was heading to visit Charlie in Romania. He was glad actually, even when he wanted to see his parents and Ginny again he would have totally freaked out if that had changed too. His mother was euphoric by his latest results in school which she found out by Percy's letters, even so Ron did believe that nothing had happened in their mail exchange with the Burrow that could have altered the holiday plans.

It was not unexpected when Malfoy made fun of them for staying in Hogwarts, Ron couldn't understand how the git didn't notice that Harry was actually happy of getting to see Hogwarts less crowded. Also that was going to give them more time to look peacefully for Nicolas Flamel, Ron was not sure if he should let Harry know more about him already but he imagined that it was best to let it go as last time, specially since Hermione didn't want to hear anything about it yet. Ron needed her with them when Nicolas Flamel and the stone were finally revealed.

The holidays let Ron forget about some of his worries for a bit, specially with the cozy common room and the marshmallows. However he kept a few things in mind, whenever he found him looking serious Harry surely imagined that he was thinking on Flamel but the truth was that Ron was mostly concerned about Quirrell and Hermione. He kept a close eye on Quirrell every time he could and it appeared as if the teacher didn't remember about the incidents with Hermione but Ron knew better, he needed to find a way to let him think that Hermione didn't suspect him anymore.

Wizarding Chess helped him relax also, he tried to let Harry win a couple of times but it was just more difficult than winning. It was quite unfair really, it was uneven when he had the mind of a first year so now it was like taking advantage of him. Although Harry's disappointment was often covered in amusement, he seemed fascinated by the chess set that Seamus had lend him.

Sooner than expected Christmas arrived and Ron went to bed thinking about Hermione, they had spent last Christmas at the Burrow and it had been wonderful, a day full of presents and loads of kids stumbling around. This time he just couldn't feel the same even when Harry was beaming all around.

Ron didn't found a present from Hermione, he didn't expect it but still it felt wrong, it made him feel empty. He had send something of course, a box of sweets, he knew exactly what she liked. There were not many more people to send things to, specially since he wasn't supposed to know the Order yet and he barely knew most of his classmates at that age, still he gave a chocolate frog to Neville.

When Harry opened his Weasley sweater Ron couldn't suppress a smile.

"She makes them every year," he said unwrapping his own, "mine's always maroon." this time Ron put his sweater on right away.

"That's really nice of her"

Ron knew what was next and he took a deep breath, he needed to show surprise no matter how much he expected it.

"Wicked! you know what that is don't you?!" he said smiling widely when the translucent cloth hit the floor, "those are pretty valuable, and useful too"

"What is it?" said Harry as he picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor.

"It's an invisibility cloak," answered Ron, a look of awe on his face. "Hurry - try it on."

Harry spun around a few times looking like only a floating head before the note fell, he read it and Ron almost imagined the voice of the headmaster speaking. He wondered if he had changed decisions this time, if there was no Mirror of Erised he would surely be lost on what to do next.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look - Harry's got a Weasley sweater, too!"

Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G. Ron was left staring at them, scenes like those were lost in his memories. He had to contain himself to look normal when he remembered the first Christmas that they had spent without Fred.

"Harry's is better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Harry's sweater. "She obviously makes an extra effort if you're not family."

Even with the initial sad memories Ron had a wonderful day. The dinner was brilliant, he hadn't enjoyed a meal that much since he returned to Hogwarts, even the professors seemed to be enjoying it too. McGonagall came near them to wish them a merry Christmas and Hagrid was laughing and beaming whenever they saw him. Even Professor Dumbledore was happy and Ron couldn't stop wondering if he had put the Mirror on its place already.

They spent a marvellous afternoon and Ron was even happy of having Percy with them, for brief moments it was his old brother back in his time and not the pompous prefect that he have been seeing for a few months now. He wished that he could give him a few advices and stop him from leaving them in fifth year entirely but he knew that he couldn't do that since he was still planning on going back as soon as he set things right with Hermione.

If he got back.

Ron sighed, it had been months now and he was as close to find how to return as the first day. So far his investigation at the library had been useless except for the fact that he found the name of the wizard whose sculpture saved him and Helena Davies that day, Dugald McPhail was a name that he was going to keep in mind. Even so the truth was that Ron missed his life more than ever and not a single day passed in which he didn't regret leaving Hermione for that stupid night shift. He should have insisted to Harry, Hermione was always right after all.

He thought about the young auror too, Parker, he would have loved to send something to him for Christmas too but it was pointless. Parker was only a little kid now and he wouldn't even remember him. Staring at the castle towers beautifully coated in white snow Ron felt broken, no one remembered him as he wanted to.

At that instant Ron was knocked to the floor and soon he realized that a good-sized snow ball had hit him from the back. "What-tha- !?" He shook his head hastily, throwing all the white away from his face and as he stood up he heard laughs all around him.

"Why the long face little Ronnie?" said a giggling Fred playing with his next projectile on the other hand.

Ron was still stunned, "Surely he is thinking about that girl, the know-it-all." added George.

The blue eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped a bit, "Whhat?!"

"Oh come on! you follow her each time we have practice, don't think we don't know that"

Nearby Harry was looking at him confused, "It's not like that! I go to the library to do homework, she is just... always there..." Ron mumbled blushing, he didn't know that he have been spotted so often and he really didn't need them saying things like that on his first year but on the other hand he didn't want to say that he wouldn't be friends with her, they kind of were supposed to be friends already. It was way too difficult, "She is nice and... well I am sure that she is-"

"Whatever you say Ronnie, whatever you say" said Fred.

"If you ask me I thought that he would have let go of that rubbish of the library by now, I didn't want another Percy in the family but-" Percy was already frowning at him but George didn't got to finish his sentence since he was interrupted by a bunch of cold snow hitting him directly on the _G_ of his sweater. "Oy!"

"Shutoff already!" Ron said grinning and grabbing more snow from the school grounds, preparing for the counter-attack that was surely coming.

"Oh you don't know what you got yourself into..." said George turning to his side, "are we ready?"

"We were born ready, shame that we don't have our Quidditch bats now though, they would turn out handy" added Fred.

The whole snow war erupted as the twins started chasing them and firing one snowy ball after the other. Ron and Harry were laughing and trying to find some shelter as they fired back but they were getting the worst part of it. At one point Percy got hit to and even when he started saying things about being immature he joined the fight after a few hits more, not as actively as the rest of them though.

"_Wingardium Levoisa_" Ron said pulling out his wand and pointing it towards a snowman at Fred's left. Before George noticed Fred was knocked to the chilly floor by the white figure.

After the surprise the twins stood up pulling out their wands too and things got more complicated for Harry and Ron, fortunately Percy appeared to be on their side. The afternoon seemed endless and for a brief instant Ron let all of his worries behind, for the first time since he arrived there he felt like an eleven year old boy again. He missed laughing like that.

The day was perfect but soon they had to return to the castle. When Ron was back at his bed he tried to pretend being asleep and when he heard footsteps he saw through the corner of his eye the shape of Harry leaving the room as he swung the cloak over him. He was so tired that he fell asleep right away, he woke a few hours later feeling that he had forgotten something but when he saw Harry back at his bed he fell back to the pillow more relaxed.

"You could have woken me up," said Ron the next day.

"I'm going back tonight you should come too, I want to show you the mirror."

"Sure thing"

Ron was nervous about going to the mirror, he didn't know what he was going to find but at least he was sure now that the headmaster hadn't changed those plans.

"I'll show you my family and I'll see yours, all of the Weasleys"

Ron smiled sadly at his friend, "You can see mine any time you like," he said. "You have to come to my house this summer."

That night as Ron and Harry went under the cloak and followed the same path, Harry appeared to be desperate and Ron felt more uneasy about it than last time. Harry needed to let his parents go but it was not the time to say it, he knew that after the trip he would try to stop Harry from returning to the mirror but it would be Dumbledore the one to convince him. Ron knew that the headmaster was going to be watching them tonight too but hopefully he wouldn't notice anything weird with him, this was going to be the first time since he returned that the headmaster was going to be that close to him.

"It's here - I know it!- it had to be, it's just that - yes!"

They pushed the door open. Harry dropped the cloak from around his shoulders and ran to the mirror. Ron stared at him from the entrance feeling like an intruder, thinking that he shouldn't be there, this was Harry's private moment. His deepest desire.

"See?" Harry whispered.

Ron took a deep breath and making a huge effort to not turn at the corner where the headmaster surely was he walked towards Harry. The redhead felt like he was back at the Ministry's Atrium and that Harry was waiting for him in front of those huge black curtains. This was his_ Black Memorial_ now.

"I-I can't see anything."

"Look! Look closer- there are loads of them."

"I can only see you."

"You are not doing it right, go on, stand where I am."

Harry stepped aside. Very afraid of what was he going to find in the mirror Ron walked preparing to say the same things as last time but he was left speechless by the reflection.

Ron didn't saw the same reflection as last time though, he didn't even saw himself in there, at least not his eleven year old self. On the mirror the image of the grown up Ron was smiling at him. Ron wanted to go back, he already knew that, his deepest desire.

It didn't end there though, a grown up Hermione appeared next to his older reflection and suddenly all of the Weasleys were there, even the kids and an older Fred. There was an older Harry there also beaming next to Ginny and when Ron noticed a young boy with round glasses holding Ginny's hand his jaw dropped. He paid a lot of attention to his future nephew remembering that Ginny was pregnant but his eyes couldn't stay there for long. Ron had noticed the small bundle of blankets on Hermione's arms and his heart started racing as he saw red hair coming out of a little fold on the fabric.

"Can you see all your family?"

Ron didn't answered, he was shocked, he was not expecting that.

"Ron!"

"N-No" the redhead lied on a mute voice as he moved a bit around trying to see under the bundle on Hermione's hand but failing, his finger tips brushing lightly against the mirror's surface. The older Ron on the reflection had now an arm around Hermione, he was happy. Why did the mirror have to show him that? As if he needed more reasons to feel bad, to regret leaving his life.

"No? what do you see?" Harry was confused and he was trying to peek at the mirror but he wouldn't be able to see anything, this was not his heart's desire, this was Ron's.

Ron didn't answer, he didn't care that the headmaster behind him might find his behavior odd, Ron just kept moving his head around trying to see something that deep down he knew would not be possible. However he needed to know, only a bit, was it a girl or boy? what was his or her name?

"Ron!" Harry raised his voice a bit desperate, "what is it?"

The redhead was startled and then he turned to Harry as if he couldn't understand what his friend was saying, his eyes pleading for a time alone. He wanted to turn back to the mirror but he knew that was not right and slowly he started to remember the room around him, slowly he became aware of the invisible presence of the headmaster at his back. In front of him the people in the reflection kept moving, now he could see Angelina's and George's kid as well as a few others.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes" Ron answered on an otherworldly voice.

"What did you saw?" Harry asked trying to get a look at the mirror, "was it your family?"

"No, I-I-..." Ron was lost and he felt his heart beating against his chest. He knew what he had to say but it was way too difficult, it even felt stupid and completely meaningless now. How could he lie like that? How could he smile and fake excitement about those useless things when he just saw what he lost?

"Ron?" Harry asked worried.

Ron fought back the tears, "I-I- was head boy" he said finally, with great difficulty he forced a smile over the knot on his throat. He pretended. "I have a badge... and I am Qu-Quiidditch captain! we won the cup Harry!" Ron had never imagined that he would feel so empty saying that, spiritless, looking happy but feeling void in the inside.

"Oh"

Ron turned back to the mirror, he saw Hermione and the Weasleys again. For the first time he really understood what Harry had felt with the mirror, he knew what the eleven year old Harry was feeling now. "Do-do you think this is the future?" he asked without taking his eyes apart from the mirror, trying to keep his voice from breaking. Ron's question lingered, he was not waiting for an answer from Harry he had asked that to himself also.

"How can it? my family is dead, all of them - let me have another look -"

Ron didn't want to, he wanted to fight him over the mirror and he tried but a sound on the corridor came then and they bolted back to their dorms. Looking at the ceiling of the four post bed Ron imagined that it had been Dumbledore the one to make the sound that send them running away.

The next day Harry would return to the mirror, Ron would have to try to stop him of course but he found it incredibly difficult, specially now since he was considering on going there himself. It was stupid and he knew that but it was just too much, he had lost everything only to start all over again and even now he was making mistakes that could cause him to not have that future at all. He wandered around the dormitory and many times he had to force himself back to bed, he wanted to go back to that mirror even without Harry or his cloak.

Ron walked down to the common room and was about to cross the fat lady portrait when something pulled him to the couch near the fireplace. He had sat at that couch for years with Harry and Hermione and now he was alone, staring at the playful fire. At that moment all seemed unimportant, the stone didn't matter at all. Still he remembered Quirrell and the fact that he was a menace to Hermione, a real Hermione not a reflection. He couldn't lose his time on that mirror when he had to find a way to put Quirrell away from her.

Silently he stood up and with one last glance at the portrait hole he went back to the dormitories. Harry was trashing on his sleep, thinking about his parents for sure and in some way Ron related to his friend then more than ever. Ron headed to bed and he stayed there, even the next night when he heard Harry sneaking out of the room again. He just stayed there, with his face buried on his pillow.


	13. The Forgetfulness Potion

The following days proved to be quite a challenge for Ron, every night as the lights went out he stared at the top of his bed for hours, wondering where the blasting mirror was now. He would have given anything for one last look at it. Not far away Harry appeared to be having the same problems to get some sleep, as Ron expected the headmaster had convinced him to not return there but that didn't kept him from thrashing impatiently over his sheets. Ron thought a lot about Dumbledore and if he had found his behavior odd the other night, still if the old wizard was suspecting something he didn't let it know.

It was then that Ron turned a little more anxious about fixing things and returning to his own time, he now had the memory of the mirror to look forward so he needed to go back and see that bundle on Hermione's arms with his own eyes. He needed to get back his life. Of course it was not going to be easy since he already had several months there and he hadn't accomplish anything so far, still he was ready to return to the library and look for a way back again but this time he had to go into the restricted section. Ron had to wait a bit though, he knew that the headmaster was surely wandering around in case Harry tried to look for the mirror again and bumping into him was the last thing he needed.

"I'm telling you, she has really asked other teachers about it." said Ron loudly to Harry at one of the corridors. He knew that Quirrell was just around the corner - or so he hoped - he had studied his usual routes during the holidays and with the school so empty he could even hear his steps from far away.

"Are you sure? I haven't heard her... I mean I remember her asking Professor Quirrell but-" Harry seemed doubtful.

"Not in class, in the hallways. I heard her asking McGonagall too, always the same, spells and counter-spells..." lied Ron and the distant steps stopped. "I think Hermione is convinced that it was not an accident either, I had seen her picking books about it."

Harry looked at him weirdly, he still hadn't said anything about Ron talking to Hermione at the library, it didn't seem to bother him that much but it was clear that his opinion about the girl hadn't changed.

"I don't think she has a clue of who could have done it though," added Ron as they turned around the corner, "I had mentioned Snape but she doesn't-"

Ron and Harry stopped suddenly when they found a confused Professor Quirrell there, Ron feigned surprise but he was sure that Quirrell didn't care about them suspecting Snape.

"Err... hi Professor Quirrell, we were just- emmm... heading to the Great Hall." said Harry as he pulled Ron away.

"Be-be care-ful..." said the Quirrell awkwardly.

Ron sighed, at least something had worked out for him. If Quirrell thought that Hermione didn't suspect him that would make things easier, knowing that Ron and Harry thought that it hadn't been an accident either and that they thought that the responsible was Snape would help too. Now Ron only needed to keep Hermione from pressing the turban man any further, unfortunately that was the hard part.

"Do you think that he heard us?" asked Harry once that they were considerably far.

Ron only shrugged, he was hoping so.

The holidays were soon over and Hermione returned one day before the start of the classes, to Ron's surprise she went to talk to him directly. "Thanks" she said.

Harry who was standing next to Ron was surprised too, "For the sweets, on Christmas" Hermione added. "They were very nice" then she smiled and continued her way towards the girls' staircase.

At his side Harry turned to look at him with a mix of surprise and confusion, he was about to say something when Seamus and Dean came by to say hi, Ron was quite glad of that.

The first days passed and Ron turned eager for the time to move on, he couldn't wait for the first Quidditch practice to arrive so he could go and talk to Hermione at the library. It was funny being so willing to go there, if it wasn't for her he would have stopped doing it ages ago. Fortunately his opportunity came rather soon since apparently Oliver Wood wanted to start preparing their next game as fast as possible.

When Ron reached the library Hermione was looking into Switching Spells at a Transfiguration book. At first she seemed to be glad to talk to him but as soon as Ron mentioned the Quidditch game and Snape she snorted and tried to continue working, Ron made another effort.

"Look," he said speaking quietly, "It's not that I don't think that you could be right, you're brilliant, you're smarter than me" Hermione's eyes opened wider and Ron noticed that her cheeks colored a bit, even so she didn't turn to look at him. "The thing is that we are sure that it's Snape so it can't be Quirrell- we have proof"

"What proof?" she asked promptly turning to him now.

"Do you remember I talked to you about the third floor corridor?"

A frown appeared on Hermione, "You shouldn't have-"

"I know, we shouldn't but we did and we found something in there, if you want to know why we know it's Snape you will have to listen to me"

This time Ron had the chance to tell her all about Fluffy and the trap door, he even said that he saw Snape limping after it and the whole discussion about Nicolas Flamel. Hermione seemed curious but since she was now focused on Quirrell she didn't consider those things to be proof enough. Ron had to acknowledge that it could be either of them and insisted in them being careful. Fortunately when Ron left he noticed Hermione more curious about Nicolas Flamel than about Quirrell which made him relax a bit.

Harry didn't seem so enthusiastic about Hermione knowing but Ron convinced him, after all she had been on the game trying to help and she already knew a lot.

The weeks moved on and Ron's relationship with Hermione grew, however the girl and Harry were as distant as before. Hermione still spend way too much time at the library and Ron wished that he could be more time with her, Harry on the other hand was absorbed with his following game against Hufflepuff specially since he had found out that Snape was going to be the referee this time. Maybe after the game Ron could try to put the three of them back together, they needed to be the trio again.

"The Forgetfulness Potion is so simple that even the... less talented of you should be able to get it right" said Snape the day before the match, the dungeon felt as cold as ever, "Still it can cause unpleasant consequences if it is handled with reckless and sloppy hands" he had his deep black eyes set on Neville.

"Nervous about the game Potter?" sneered Malfoy from behind them, "You should be, wonder what the school would think when you lose to those fools in Hufflepuff"

"Drop it," Ron warned him.

Snape turned around so Harry, Ron and Malfoy moved to their cauldrons just in time before the professor caught them.

"He is only being a git because you beat them last game," the ginger whispered to Harry, "Or maybe he is git all the time"

"Even so I wish he could keep himself to his own business" his friend whispered back.

Halfway through the class they heard Malfoy's voice again, he was speaking to Goyle but he did it loud enough so Harry could hear, "He should be looking for Glue Potions instead, maybe that way he could keep himself on that broom of his"

Ron turned as soon as he heard them laughing, "He beat you either way, Hufflepuff will surely be tougher"

Malfoy turned red, "What would you know about Quidditch weasel? I bet you can't even afford a Quaffle"

"Shut up Malfoy" said Harry.

"Potter!" shouted Snape, they had surely been too loud, "Are you finished? Because otherwise I don't see why are you causing this uproar"

"No professor we-"

"We-we were helping Malfoy" interrupted Ron and everyone was surprised, "He has problems with his potion and asked us about it. We were just saying that he's holding Poison Ivy and this potion doesn't need it... I think, what he needs is Valerian"

Malfoy who had been sniggering since Snape caught them was now stunned in his place and holding a bunch of Poison Ivy in his hand. Snape noticed it and narrowed his eyes, "This potion does not need Poison Ivy indeed but Mr Malfoy should have asked me, either way you two were causing way too much noise in my class. Potter, Weasley, one point from each of you for this disorder." he said and turned to the other tables.

It was surprising to feel so happy after losing points but neither Ron or Harry could stop smiling thinking on Malfoy who was fuming at their backs.

"You'll pay for this"

"You're welcome Malfoy" said Harry as Ron poured Lethe River water on his old cauldron.

The rest of the day passed normally and when Harry left for his last Quidditch practice Ron went to talk to Hermione who this time was at the common room, she was specially eager about something.

"Ron, Ron, I think I found him" she whispered.

"Who? Flamel?"

"No, not him, not yet. I found the real responsible of jynxing Harry's broom, it was Professor Quirrell, we have to tell someone"

Ron paled, "Wait what?! I think that we said that-"

"That it could be either one, yes I know, but I have been looking and it's him!" she insisted moving her eyes around to make sure no one was watching.

"Bu-But Snape, we have proof..."

"Weak" insisted Hermione looking as excited as she always did when she solved something, "I have been paying attention to both of them. Yesterday I heard Professor Quirrell talking to someone inside a classroom, only heard Professor Quirrell's voice but he seemed like he was reporting things to another person. There is someone else trying to hurt Harry and get through that trap door!"

"I-I-It can't be!" insisted Ron. He couldn't believe it, all these weeks thinking that Hermione had dropped that for now and suddenly she had solved it. He was a fool for not watching her closer.

"I know it is hard to believe but I heard them, they were talking about Harry's broom and how we knew about it... oh and he said that Professor Snape is really close to uncovering him. You know what this means? Professor Snape did the counter-spell, he's been trying to protect Harry!"

"Maybe you misheard him..."

"Of course not, I even asked him about three headed dogs the other day after class and he was nervous"

"You what?! Hermione! that could be dangerous" for the first time Ron found himself letting go that Quirrell could be the one they were looking for but he didn't care, he couldn't believe that he have been so relaxed these days when his future wife was going after Voldermort.

"Well we need to tell someone!"

Ron stared at her for a moment really confused and at the end he decided to nod, it would change the timeline incredibly but it was better to not fight with her again and send her to Quirrell. "Tomorrow, after the game"

"Why don't we do it now? you said he was dangerous"

"Yeah but better do it tomorrow, to not make Harry nervous with his game and all. Besides Quirrell is not going to go anywhere" and Ron thought that maybe he could find a way to minimize the damage to the timeline by then but he had to think fast.

Hermione ended up agreeing to wait and Ron was left thinking about what to do. He had no way of stopping her from going to Dumbledore or at least he thought so at that point, he was sure of one thing though, he was not going to let her leave his sight until Quirrell was no longer a danger.

The next morning Harry woke up quite nervous and so did Ron, the redhead tried to relax Harry and tell him that everything was going to be fine. Ron knew that there was nothing to worry about, after all Harry had caught the snitch way too fast the previous time. He knew that the real problem was far from the pitch.

The blue eyes followed Hermione all the way from the common room to the Great Hall, he was not willing to leave her alone so he was not sure how he was going to explain that to Harry. Still Harry didn't seem to notice the extra attention that Ron was paying to Hermione since he was way too lost in Quidditch.

Ron was cheering Harry up when Malfoy appeared again flanked by Goyle and Crabbe, they didn't even wait to finish their breakfast to come mess with them, they were still chewing something and had their pumpkin juice glasses with them.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" said Harry.

Malfoy sneered, "Not as much as your weasel here, he's only waiting for you to leave so he can pretend to like the library"

"Stop it" said Ron ready to stand up, he didn't have the mood nor the time for Malfoy now. He moved his eyes to Hermione once more and the Slytherin didn't miss it.

"Don't you tell me that you like that book-rat, even you could do better"

Ron stood up from his place and faced Malfoy, soon things got heated up and they pulled their wands out, before Ron knew it McGonagall was there calming things down and the Slytherins returned to their table sniggering. Back at his seat Ron noticed Hermione staring weirdly at him, he didn't know if she had heard that.

They continued eating breakfast but after a while Ron started to feel dizzy, Harry didn't look that well either. He was confused but when he turned to his glass he realized something, he couldn't remember if Malfoy and his bodyguards had left with their glasses.

"That prick!" said Ron trying to think on what could have they put on the drinks, everything was foggy and confusing.

By then the Great Hall was almost empty, even the teacher's table, "Harry come on, we have to go... to go... somewhere... the Hospital Wing! that's it!"

Harry followed him doubtfully out of the Hall, Ron could hear Malfoy laughing not far away but he didn't have time for him, he would handle him later. Against all what he had decided he ended up leaving Hermione behind but it was the best thing to do, he couldn't look after her feeling like that. Unfortunately Ron and Harry were not even halfway to the Hospital Wing when they got confused again and Ron seemed to forget where they were going.

Then Harry stopped and turned to him, "You- who-?...what's your name?"

Ron was caught off guard by the question and surprisingly he took some time to find the answer, "I'm Ron, who are you? where are we going?"

"I'm Harry, I think" he said moving his green eyes around, the students walking beside them were staring weirdly at them.

"Harry?... are you sure? where's Ginny?" asked Ron.

"Who's Ginny?"

Ron was surprised, "Ginny? you don't remember her? she's your- wait no- you are just a kid. You can't be Harry" even so the redhead couldn't stop staring at the scar on the black haired boy's forehead.

"You're a kid too"

"I'm not, I'm-... I don't know but I'm not a kid. Something is wrong with us, we need to get help"

Harry nodded and the both of them continued their way through corridors and moving staircases, soon they stopped again.

"Where are we going?" asked Harry.

"To get help" insisted Ron as if that was the most obvious answer.

"Where?"

Ron was stunned, he didn't know the answer, he turned to the window next to him and saw the huge lake extending in the distance. He couldn't even remember where he was even when some places looked familiar. "We should ask someone"

"Who?"

"Anyone!"

They continued for a while asking for help without knowing what did they needed help with. They found a blond girl maybe a couple of years older than them, she was wearing a green scarf and looked at them as if they were crazy, unfortunately she left them there without even trying to understand what was wrong. Two corridors away they found a boy who was in a hurry but at least he gave them the directions to the Hospital Wing, the bad part was of course that they forgot where they were going a few steps later.

Ron and Harry wandered around the castle for a long time without knowing what they were looking for, they were tired and hungry and a couple of times they passed in front of the Hospital Wing without realizing it. After a while they found themselves outside and to their surprise a tree almost knocked them to the ground when they got too close to it.

"Harry? Ron?" asked a loud voice and a huge bearded man appeared. Ron and Harry exchanged confused looks.

"Do you know us?" asked Harry.

The big man seemed surprised, "O' course I know yeh. Weren' yeh supposed to be preparin' fer the game?"

"What game? who are you?"

At this the man went even more confused, "Follo' meh, we better get yeh checked"

Something like an hour later Ron started to get back to normal on a comfy bed, Madam Pomfrey was checking them. Ron was feeling as if his whole head was spinning and next to him Harry looked pretty shaken too.

"... nothing to worry about. A simple Forgetfulness Potion, it would have faded eventually"

"It might but maybe that would have been too late!" said a Gryffindor boy not far away, he was holding a big banner and his face was painted in red and gold.

"He can play, can't he?" added another one next to him who Ron now recognized as Seamus. "The game is about to start!" the Hospital Wing doors were opened wide the entrance was packed with people wearing red.

"It is?!" Harry almost jumped out of his bed, "It was not until this afternoon"

"What time do you think it is? You have been affected by the potion most of the day child" said the matron.

Ron's eyes opened in surprise, everything was still kind of foggy but he could remember enough to know that he was going to kill Malfoy later.

"So they 're all right'?" asked Hagrid from the back.

"Physically fine, nothing to worry about but they haven't eaten in the whole day and Mr Potter might be too dizzy to get on a broom" said Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm all right, I'll grab something in the way" said Harry heading towards the door but waiting for the healer's answer, Ron was right next to him. The healer was staring at Harry like trying to decide if he could fall from his broom if she let him play.

Madam Pomfrey finally sighed in defeat and nodded as the whole pack of Gryffindor students stormed downstairs with cheers. That prat of Malfoy had planned this precisely today to mess with the game and Ron was already thinking on a way to get back at him.

The steps down felt longer than usual but they didn't pass by the kitchen, instead some guys gave them some pieces of bread and chocolate they have been carrying. Everybody must have been at the pitch already since the corridors were empty which was not a good sign at all. Hagrid was too slow for them and he stayed behind.

"Where were you?! are you trying to kill me?!" Ron heard Oliver Wood yell to Harry in the distance as he made his way towards the stands, the whole school was there already even Snape was on the middle of the pitch looking impatient.

Once on the stands Ron felt the hunger getting to him stronger and he put as much food in his mouth as he could find, when Hagrid got there Ron had already got his hands on a red banner. The face on Malfoy when he saw them was priceless.

"We thought that you weren't coming, what were you doing the whole day?" asked Neville.

"Long story"

The crowd roared as the players started coming in, Ron turned to his side to look for Hermione and then to the other but he couldn't find her. The stands were big, she could be anywhere. When he saw Quirrell there across the pitch something told him things were not fine.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked around.

Dean shrugged.

"Haven't seen her all day" someone said.

"She's not at the Gryffindor tower, we come from there" said Lavender a couple of rows back, Parvati Patil was nodding confused.

"Maybe she forgot about the game, she doesn't like Quidditch... I think"

"She's probably at the library" said a brown haired boy.

Neville shook his head, "I was there the whole day and I didn't see her."

For a few seconds Ron stared at Harry coming out to the pitch and he made up his mind. He stormed out of the stands with people yelling at him about where he was going but he didn't had time for that, the prick of Malfoy had taken all the time he had from him.

Ron raced around the most common places in the castle where she could be but he couldn't find her, he only found Peeves already making a song about the memory-less boys from first year. He was desperate using all the short-cuts he knew to look for as many parts of the castle as possible but it was useless. He ended up without knowing where to go and cursing himself for falling right into Malfoy's trap, if something happened to her he was never going to forgive himself. He was an auror, he couldn't fell for cheap tricks like those.

Out of nowhere an idea came to him and he stormed upstairs as fast as a Nimbus 2000. He spat the password from far away and rushed into the Gryffindor tower, up to the boys staircases, he knew nobody was there.

Fred's trunk had some protective spells of course - joking spells mostly - but he was a trained auror and was able to go through most of them quickly, still he ended up with some blisters on his hands but he didn't care. It turned out that it wasn't there and he had to go through George's trunk too with a similar luck.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Ron said as quickly as he could to the piece of paper on his hands and the map started filling with places and names.

It was pretty easy to find her, most of the people were at the pitch so aside from Madam Pomfrey, Filch and a couple of professors the castle was mostly deserted. The tag '_Hermione Granger_' was there on an empty classroom, half mocking him, half filling him with joy.

Ron raced downstairs saying to himself that if her name appeared that meant that she was ok, he was on time, nothing bad had happened to her. Then the doubts came to him, what was she doing in that place? they didn't had any classes there, it was way too far from the entrance and other professors' offices. He tried to be hopeful though, he had found her. Surely she was just studying in private and had forgotten about the match, Ron only needed to bring her up and return the map before his brothers noticed.

What seemed like an eternity later he reached the door and turned to the Marauder's Map again, she was in there or at least that was what the map said. Ron took a deep breath, "Mischief managed." he said and put the map inside one of his pockets, then he knocked.

No answer.

She was there, the map couldn't be fooled. He knocked again. "Hermione?"

Nothing.

Fear covered Ron, he paled and started trembling a bit. What if something had happened to her? He didn't want to think that but it was possible, he didn't had time to lose.

"I'm coming in!" he shouted trying to open the door but it was locked, he was getting a bad feeling. He took out his wand.

"_Alohomora_!"

The door swung open and when he came inside Ron stopped in the doorway frozen. The classroom was indeed empty as it surely had been for some time now. There was a cauldron on the floor with its contents spilled all around, next to it and lying motionless on the floor there was a bushy haired girl.


	14. The Change In The Plan

Time appeared to be running very slowly for Ron as he stared at the unmoving figure of Hermione on the floor. It was as if suddenly all of the fears of his past life returned to him and he was back at that beach after escaping from the Malfoys without knowing if he would be able to save her, feeling powerless, useless.

"Hermione!" he yelled running towards her.

Ron kicked the potion aside, he didn't know if that was what had put Hermione in that state but he didn't had time to figure it out. He knelt next to her and lifted her upper body from the cold hard stone, the image shocked him. Hermione seemed to be sleeping, she looked peaceful but her face was unnaturally pale.

"Hermione! Hermione! say something!" his voice was breaking as he shook her body but Hermione didn't answer, he couldn't lose her.

Right then a weird smell reached him, he wouldn't have recognize it if he hadn't been preparing that bloody potion the day before. It was that odd smell of Valerian mixed with the other herbs of the Forgetfulness Potion, if he had paid attention to it during breakfast maybe Hermione wouldn't be like that.

He was an auror but that was the first moment in which he scanned the room for threats, the sight of Hermione had totally made him forget his training, if there had been an attacker inside he would have been out of combat for his recklessness. However at that moment it wasn't important.

"You can't leave me, I love you. I'm a mess without you!" Ron said with his eyes watering. He grabbed his wand and started checking her with all the spells he knew, his hand trembling.

It was then that he noticed that she was breathing but very weakly so he shook his head and tried to regain focus, he didn't have time for sobbing. At that moment he didn't care about the stone or the Quidditch game or being caught by Dumbledore, he raised her from the floor with a non-verbal spell and headed to the Hospital wing as fast as he could.

The time to get there seemed endless, Ron was supposed to be focused on how to get there fast but he couldn't stop blaming himself. Few hours ago he had walked across those same corridors without even knowing where he was or who he was, had Hermione been lying unconscious on the floor by then? The thought was unbearable.

"Help! I need help!" Ron said as he stormed inside the infirmary.

"What's all that commotion... Oh Merlin!- what happened?" said Madam Pomfrey as she noticed Hermione's floating body, it was obvious that she was in a very bad shape.

"I don't know! I found her on a classroom, you got to help her!"

"Come on, put her on this bed"

The next minutes were excruciating for Ron, he couldn't do anything but wait as the matron tried desperately to work her magic on Hermione. He explained her of course all what he knew about the accident but unfortunately that was not much of a help. At some point Ron was asked to leave the room which he did after a heated argument and he was left outside walking nervously around, even Professor Dumbledore and Snape entered without him knowing what was going on, they barely gave him curious glimpses as they passed.

"Mr Weasley, I am aware that you brought Miss Granger here. I think we need to have a conversation." said Professor Dumbledore once that they came back, his sparkling blue eyes calm and serious.

"How is she?!"

"I believe that Miss Granger is going to be all right, she's in good hands, but this is a delicate situation you might have just saved her life" even when he was terrified of having been so close to losing her Ron couldn't avoid a relief sigh, "I had been told that you found her on an empty room with a spilled potion"

Ron repeated his story from the moment he entered that classroom until he got to the Hospital Wing. Dumbledore surely found a lot of suspicious things but at the moment Ron didn't care, all what was important for him was Hermione recovering.

"I'll have to check this Albus, a simple Forgetfulness Potion can't do something like this" said Snape.

"Then this is not a simple Forgetfulness Potion I'm afraid," the headmaster said with a worried tone, surely he wasn't expecting something like this happening to a first year, Ron wasn't either. "Mr Weasley can you give Professor Snape the location of the classroom where this potion is?"

Ron nodded and gave the best indications he could as he threw a few concerned glances towards the big wooden doors. "Very well, Severus can you please go check this now? We need quick answers." Dumbledore continued, "As for you Mr Weasley, can you join me in my office? I want to know more about this regrettable situation."

The redhead knew that he should be worried about the headmaster but what really kept him from agreeing right away was Hermione, he didn't want to leave her now.

Professor Dumbledore must have noticed that, "I have talked to Poppy and she has informed me that the most dangerous part is over, I'm sure you can spare some minutes for me, by the time we are finished I am sure that you would be able to see your friend"

Ron still didn't want to but he didn't had an option so he nodded.

The path to the headmaster's office felt quicker, it seemed like Ron had just taken his eyes away from the Hospital Wing's doors when suddenly they found themselves facing the spinning gargoyle. It was not until then that Ron started feeling nervous of what could the old wizard suspect or try to find out.

"Please take a seat Mr Weasley" said Professor Dumbledore once inside, his blue eyes piercing him and checking each one of Ron's reactions.

Ron tried to look interested with all the silvery shining things that the headmaster had in his office but he wasn't sure if that had convinced him, he would have tried to ask about Fawkes who seemed to have been reborn only a short time ago but he didn't feel like it, after all Hermione was lying on a bed at the Hospital Wing and he could have avoided it.

The old headmasters on the office walls started wondering what was happening and Ron thought for the first time about the portraits of Dumbledore and Snape that he was used to see before this whole mess. Minerva McGonagall hadn't changed the office much after the war but still a few things were different, McGonagall had more books than shining things and she also had a huge barn owl instead of a phoenix. Ron was staring at the place were the pensieve surely was when the headmaster broke the silence.

"Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"

Ron shook his head slowly.

"Well that's a shame, they are quite delightful you know." the headmaster paused briefly, "I hope you find yourself comfortable here Mr Weasley, I try to keep this office interesting. This marvellous bird is named Fawkes by the way, my phoenix. Do you happen to know how wonderful creatures phoenixes are?"

Ron nodded spiritless, "Yeah, they reborn"

The headmaster seemed surprised by Ron's lack of enthusiasm, "Their tears have impressive healing properties also but I have the feeling that you are not interested in that now." he said looking mindfully at Ron, "I see, well then lets continue with our current situation, mind to explain your whole day to me? please don't let any details behind, those might turn out to be important"

Ron once again talked about what happened but this time he included his incident with the Forgetfulness Potion which Dumbledore didn't miss, after all that potion seemed to be all around him that day. For a moment he thought about Malfoy but he dismissed it right away, he knew that whatever happened to Hermione was not Malfoy's doing.

"And you left the Quidditch game?" Dumbledore asked, "I mean it was clearly the best option but I am aware that you are very close to Mr Potter, you must had had a very strong reason to leave"

"Hermione was missing, I-I- well... I thought that she could be in trouble"

"This kind of trouble?" asked the headmaster raising his eyebrows.

"No, of course not, but I got a bad feeling. No one had seen her the whole day" Ron said nervously. He kind of expected the headmaster to try to read his mind but apparently the old wizard didn't thought that he needed to. Either way he was prepared, he knew Occlumancy, the only problem would be that Dumbledore would surely find out that way more suspicious.

"I see, and may I ask how you knew where to find her?"

Ron's hands were shaking a bit, the headmaster definitely was finding everything odd. "I-I didn't... I looked everywhere!"

The old headmasters on the walls were curious, some of them were whispering between them. Professor Dumbledore didn't look convinced.

"We are very lucky then, in a castle of this size it is quite difficult to find missing people. Specially in a room that hasn't been used for so long." he said looking at Ron over his half moon spectacles. After a pause he proceeded, "I was told that you brought Miss Granger to the Hospital Wing using what appears to be a _Locomotor _charm, am I right?"

Ron was stunned, he caught him on that and it was going to be quite difficult to explain but he didn't had a way out of it, "Y-Yes, professor"

"Impressive, that's a spell a few years ahead of you. How did you learn it? if you allow me the question"

"Saw it at the library, thought it would be useful to know it"

"Pretty useful indeed", the teacher was studying him, Ron found the meeting to be much more like an interrogation session than an explanation of what happened.

"Can I go see Hermione now?... Professor?" Ron asked a bit tense, he didn't know what would happen if the headmaster discovered him. Would he try to erase his mind to let the future unaltered? It would be useless since he had already changed a lot of things but Ron couldn't risk it now, he had to return to his time with his wife, he couldn't let the old wizard take all the memories he cherished away from him.

If it came down to it Ron didn't had much hopes of taking Dumbledore down on a duel but he was not willing to let the headmaster _obliviate_ him. He was already thinking on what spell he could use to get away when someone knocked and Albus Dumbledore's attention moved from Ron.

It was Snape, he had checked on the potion already and by what Ron was able to understand the potion was altered. It had to be so since a memory loss potion shouldn't be able to do something like that. Snape still was trying to find out what the potion contained and if Hermione had really taken it, he did mention something about Doxy Poison probably inside it which of course was not an ingredient of that mix.

Professor Dumbledore dismissed Ron but not before giving him a curious look, he was surely going to keep his eye open on Ron which was something that he didn't need right now.

Just as the headmaster had said once that Ron returned to the Hospital Wing he was allowed to see Hermione, she seemed a little less pale but she didn't look that good yet. Ron felt a knot above the chest just by seeing her lying like that.

"How is she?"

"She'll be all right boy, thanks to you of course. You brought her here just in time, who knows what monstrous thing she drank" said the matron.

Ron nodded, he didn't feel like a hero, it was his fault that this happened in the first place. If he hadn't come back to the past she would be perfectly healthy.

The remaining of the day Ron spent it sitting next to her bed, he didn't care if he got unwanted attention, he had to be there for her. Some time later Harry and the twins came by, they had found out what happened and came to see what was going on. Surely they thought that Ron's attention on Hermione was weird but they didn't say a thing, Harry even stayed with him looking troubled at Hermione.

It turned out that Gryffindor lost to Hufflepuff by fifty points which was another huge variation from the previous time, they now were second to last for the Quidditch Cup and Malfoy would have a field day with his nasty remarks. Oliver Wood was surely broken-down but Harry was not looking much better, from what he heard it seemed like he had missed the snitch twice before the Hufflepuff seeker beat him to it. It was surprising how little Ron cared about the timeline being altered again, getting back at Malfoy was not important either since it didn't matter what happened to them now and Ron was convinced that he didn't had anything to do with Hermione's attack. It was Quirrell and Ron just couldn't let this go, he couldn't let Voldemort try to hurt her again.

Surely Quirrell hadn't killed her right away because he didn't want that attention from Dumbledore, he preferred to pass it like a potion accident. Ron gritted his teeth, if he had paid more attention to what he was doing at breakfast none of this would have happened at all.

The following days Ron found it difficult to leave Hermione's side, Harry had to drag him to get some food and to classes and he even looked confused about Ron's attitude. Percy and the twins looked worried too, apparently now everyone knew how important was Hermione to Ron, well everyone except for Hermione.

"There you are" Fred said one day to Ron as he and Harry were heading back to the Hospital Wing.

"We have been wanting to speak to you, and don't get all fussed up it's not about your... well- girl." said George raising an eyebrow.

Ron turned red, "She's only my friend! and I'm-"

Fred stopped him with a hand gesture, "Oy! we already said that it was not about her"

"Then what is it?" asked Ron, Harry looked equally confused.

"Well we had a certain object under our possession, let's call it a map" said George putting and arm on Ron's shoulder and the redhead tensed. Ron had returned it to their trunk the day after the game but he was surely sloppy doing it, he knew they had caught him.

"We know you took it, no need to argue there," said Fred, "It disappears the day when you mysteriously find this girl in an abandoned classroom and then it gets back to our trunk the next day... suspicious isn't it?"

"Also we were looking when you put it back..." added George.

"Yeah, that too"

"I needed it! Hermione, she was..."

"Hold it right there, we know you fancy the girl and you were worried..."

"I don't-" Ron was blushing.

"Ok, ok, it was a good reason but all we want to know is how you knew about it, or how to use it. We can always bugger you off about the girl later..."

Ron took some time to throw a crazy theory of him finding about the map, he mostly said that he had overheard them talking about it and even when the twins were not that convinced they apparently didn't had a better explanation. Ron said to Harry that he found out a few days ago and that he hadn't had the time to tell him which the black haired boy seemed to believe. Incredibly he had gone out of that one just by promising not to tell anyone about the map.

"Next time you have to ask," said Fred, "if you are planning to use it for a sweet prank we might let you borrow it for a while"

"We might help"

When Hermione woke up Ron and Harry were talking about the Quidditch game a couple of beds away, Ron had seen Hermione looking much better the last couple of days and that relaxed him a bit. Harry was definitely beaten up about losing to Hufflepuff and with all the incident Ron wasn't able to give him a lot of supporting words.

"I'm telling you it was all that git's fault" said Ron frowning, "If you had played without being so tired and hungry you would have won easily"

"Yeah, right"

"What? I'm telling you the truth.. you're brilliant as a seeker!"

"R-Ron?" came the faint sound of Hermione's voice and Ron sprung out of his place instantly forgetting about Quidditch, he hadn't seen her waking up but as soon as he heard her he went and sat on the bed with her.

"How are you feeling? want me to call Madam Pomfrey?" true concern came from the tone of his voice but he looked glad of having her back. He even put a hand unconsciously on her forehead to see if everything was ok.

Hermione was confused and raised an eyebrow at Ron, "I-I'm fine, thank you" she said weakly, her cheeks a little pink.

The redhead then noticed how close he was to her and he stood up awkwardly. "Err.. we- you got us worried." he said.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You don't remember?" Harry asked after a weird look to Ron, "You were poisoned, that's what Snape says at least" he was frowning. Actually the official version was that it had been a potion accident but apparently everyone had a different way of telling the story. Ron told Harry everything about his conversation with Dumbledore of course, including Snape's suspicions, so naturally Harry was blaming that on Snape too.

Hermione was surprised of seeing Harry of course but he was there only for Ron. He hadn't said anything bad about the girl in a while and he really looked worried about what happened to her but it was not like their old days at the Hospital Wing.

"Poisoned?"

"Yes the whole school knows, the teachers are worried"

They explained it quickly to her and her eyes sprung opened, "Merlin! how many classed have I missed?! Is there any homework that I don't know about?"

Ron smiled, "Well you are feeling better then?... no need to get all fussed up, I wrote it down for you"

Madam Pomfrey came then to check her and gladly she announced that she was doing fine, she would be able to leave the bed the next day. One thing that they noticed was that she couldn't remember a few things which the matron blamed on the altered Forgetfulness Potion but after spending a while with her Ron was not so sure.

Hermione couldn't remember anything about Quirrell messing with Harry's broom and after she reluctantly listen to Ron's story about the third floor corridor again she was supporting them on the whole Snape thing. Ron knew what really happened and it really angered him, Quirrell _obliviated_ her before altering her potion, it was a perfect move for him but he could have caused a lot of damage to Hermione's memories by altering so much and Ron needed to think about what to do next.

Out of nowhere Hermione had let Quirrell's suspicions behind but Ron was not comfortable with it. What if Quirrell feared that she could remember something? What if he thought that she could start suspecting him again? Ron couldn't make the same mistakes twice.

The first Defence Against Dark Arts class after Hermione's attack was quite tense. Ron saw Quirrell glimpsing at him and Harry, at the same time Ron couldn't stop frowning at the impostor every now and then. He found out that he didn't mind being caught, he preferred having to duel Voldemort than letting him near Hermione again and realizing that changed things for him.

He made up his mind, everything that he have been planning since he arrived didn't matter anymore. He choose Hermione over the timeline and there was only one thing he could do about it. Quirrell had to be taken down.

Time passed and Ron tried to figure out what to do with Voldemort, those days he didn't let Hermione out of his sight not even once. That of course meant that he was now hanging with Hermione way more. The girl had found out that Ron had been with her during the whole time at the infirmary, it was embarrassing at first since Hermione thanked him looking surprised and quite red but fortunately she didn't ask him much about it.

Harry on the other hand didn't seem really pleased of spending all that time with Hermione but at least he didn't look so irritated around her anymore and the fact that they sometimes joined forces to look for Nicolas Flamel was a good sign. Hermione seemed keen to find the old Flamel and Harry appeared to be glad now that she knew about it. Maybe Ron could put things back together after all.

Still Harry hadn't told Hermione about the invisibility cloak yet, he didn't seem to trust her that much. Some nights Ron and Harry got out to look for Nicolas Flamel at the restricted section of the library and Ron took the chance to check for something that could help him with Quirrell.

"Wait! this could work!" he said one of those nights looking at an huge book covered in dust.

"What? you found him?" Harry who was looking at a different book asked.

"Who?... Flamel? Err... no- just a weird thing- a folly" tried to say Ron and Harry turned away disappointed. Ron then put his eyes back on the book trying to memorize the spell, his new plan was getting more defined. Ron only hoped that he didn't mess it up this time.

The redhead had almost forgotten about his birthday when Hermione came to him with a pack of chocolate frogs and he couldn't stop smiling like a fool. It was odd but this was his second twelfth birthday and his first since he travelled back in time, only last year he had been hanging around with the older versions of his friends and family. Hermione had baked a marvellous carrot cake then, he couldn't forget that.

After thanking the younger Hermione he decided to open the pack of chocolate frogs in front of Harry and her, it was time. He found himself wishing to get a chocolate frog card that he already had like five times. He didn't got Dumbledore's card then but Harry had also brought some sweets for him and sooner rather than later they ended up discovering about Flamel.

"The Sorcerer's Stone?" asked Harry once that Hermione solved the mystery.

"Don't you read anything?" she said and Harry frowned at her, then Hermione stormed upstairs and came back with a heavy book that she put in front of Harry and Ron.

"Here, do you see it now?" asked Hermione pointing at one page that explained everything about the stone, "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! he must have asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, they're friends after all, that's why the Stone moved out of Gringotts! It explains it all, we should had found him ages ago!"

"Well maybe you did but- you know- your memory" said Ron and Hermione gave him a sad smile. Along with her memories about Quirrell she had forgotten other stuff and she have been desperate since then to re-learn the few school topics that she lost.

With Flamel's discovery they were mostly back on track, some things had played differently but that was not always a bad thing. Ron was grateful that Harry hadn't found Snape talking to Quirrell this time, if he had then they might had thought that Quirrell needed protection and Ron was not going to let them near that man again.

The weeks passed and Harry started to get used to having Hermione around, it was not that bad either since Hermione was now helping him study for the subjects that Ron was way too lazy to do it, like History of Magic. Even so things were still not the same, most of Hermione's remarks of not studying enough were now solely directed to Harry since Ron was doing good in most classes and Harry didn't seem to like that, even so Ron hoped that everything would eventually fall back into the right place.

On the other hand Ron had learned a couple of useful spells and he was ready to stop Quirrell once and for all, he was not even going to let him near the trap door again. He only needed a place to face him without Dumbledore finding out and he knew exactly what to do to get that.

"A dragon?! Hagrid you know this is not right!" said Hermione at Hagrid's hut, she have been joining them there the last few times but now it was more important. Ron needed to use Norbert - the norwegian ridgeback - if he wanted his plan to work.

They started arguing a while with the half-giant who seemed pretty confident of raising the dragon by himself, it was not hard to get him to talk a little more about Fluffy and the things he had said to the man who gave him the egg. Everything was going well, or as well as it could be with a ridgeback dragon living in a wooden hut. Ron only had to be careful of not getting bitten this time.

"I'm sure that he could dress it like a dog or something, that way they won't discover him" joked Ron a few days later, Norbert was growing up quickly.

"Not funny Ron," added Hermione, "he could really get in a lot of problems with this, we need to convince him of letting it go"

"Yeah but where? or how? they could see him walking away with a dragon from miles away" asked Harry

"I think I have an idea" said Ron.

The redhead made an effort to let Malfoy know about Charlie picking up Norbert, he needed him to call McGonagall but he also wanted him to go through the same thing as Harry and Hermione. Ron didn't like putting them in trouble but he couldn't risk them finding out what he was going to do. If everything turned out right then they would be busy with Hagrid at the forest thinking that Ron was in his bed while he dealt with Quirrell.

It was weird that after so much time of worrying about not changing anything he was now going to do it willingly. He was going to change things and he didn't want to think about how that would affect him going back, not now.

Ron of course wondered if he could make it, he was not Harry and facing Voldemort directly could turn very badly. However he didn't had any other option, he had been noticing Quirrell's eyes on Hermione during his classes, like wondering how much could it take her to suspect him again.

He had to do it, Ron didn't know if he could win but he had to try. He didn't have to beat Voldemort only Quirrell, Ron thought that he was good enough to beat Quirrell.

When the night came things turned to be more complicated than he had first thought, Hermione was more reluctant to go out at night this time even after Harry decided to tell her about the cloak, at the end Ron didn't know how they made it all the way to the Astronomy tower but they did. With all what was happening Ron had forgotten that his brothers were way younger, it was refreshing seeing Charlie again like that and he promised to write more when he saw him taking Norbert again. Ron hoped that Malfoy had done his part when on the way back he told Harry and Hermione that he forgot something at the tower, his plan would have to change a lot if they weren't caught then.

Unfortunately time is always uncertain specially after so many changes, Ron thought that he would avoid the teacher by returning to the Astronomy tower but on his way there Ron discovered that Harry and Hermione were not on their way towards McGonagall because the teacher came now from the other side.

"Mr Weasley! what do you think you are doing?!" said the professor more severe than ever.


	15. The Shadow under the Cloak

Ron couldn't believe his bad luck. It seemed like everything he tried to do always ended up in some kind of twisted joke. It didn't matter if he was trying to keep the timeline intact or do the exact opposite, he just couldn't get anything right. If Hermione had been sent back in time instead of him Ron was sure that she wouldn't have these kinds of problems, she always knew what to do.

The whole way to McGonagall's office was unnerving, the teacher didn't say anything or even turned to look at him making him feel terribly guilty. For a moment he was a first year again knowing that he had done something pretty bad.

When they arrived the professor lead him to a chair in front of her desk and it was not until she was sitting on the other side that she spoke again, "I am really disappointed of you, I expected more"

"Professor I-"

"No Mr Weasley, there are no valid excuses for being out of bed at these hours. And at the Astronomy tower as if that wasn't enough! totally unworthy of a Gryffindor"

Ron lowered his eyes feeling worse. It turned out that McGonagall had already sent Malfoy to bed but for some reason she ended up taking another path towards the Astronomy tower.

"Ever since your first class I have been expecting great things from you but I don't know what to think anymore. I have been following you, you seem to excel easily in some topics and classes but for others you are lazy and simply not interested in learning. I thought that you were just trying to fit in but this... No Mr Weasley, things do not work like this."

Even when he have been waiting for the lecture since he was caught the professor's words hit him hard. Ron found himself unable to answer back, he just nodded as if he deserved whatever punishment she gave him. Probably things would be less disappointing for her if he had never turned that match into a needle in his first class, to be honest if it wasn't for Hermione he wouldn't be going to the library either.

Ron only wished that the changes done to the timeline so far wouldn't affect the outcome. He have been planning on luring Quirrell into a trap as Hermione and Harry were at the forest but now it would have to be the other way around. He would have to go and sneak out of Hagrid to face Quirrell as Harry and Hermione stayed in the Gryffindor tower, it might even be a better option.

The readhead was starting to feel optimistic when the door opened and he paled.

"Caught these wandering around professor" said the raspy voice of Argus Filch as he lead Harry, Hermione and Neville into the room, Professor McGonagall's face straightened even more.

All of Ron's plans were threatened once again as he saw Harry and Hermione taking seats next to him. It turned out that Neville had found them on their way back to the tower and they decided to go back and look for Ron. After all what happened Ron had at least hoped for Neville to be out of this, it seemed unbelievable that major events changed with every little thing that Ron did and still something as casual as Neville hearing Malfoy about the dragon didn't. Maybe Neville didn't hear him talking about it in the first place, maybe Malfoy bragged to him about getting Harry expelled. Whatever it was it didn't seem like it mattered anymore.

"I'm disgusted, terribly ashamed!" said Professor McGonagall. "Five students out of bed in one single night! I've never heard of such a thing before! Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All of you will receive detentions - yes, even you, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, it's very dangerous - fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

"Fifty?" Harry gasped.

"Fifty points each," said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily.

Ron didn't even try to argue since he knew it was useless but Harry did. The redhead wondered how different this would be for his friend, this time he was already feeling guilty for having lost the Quidditch game so that would probably hit him hard and knowing Harry he would feel responsible for all of the points lost not just his.

Two hundred points, that was a change too, if they ever had a chance for the cup it was probably long gone. Even if things repeated and they got points back at the end they would still be down, he didn't think that Dumbledore would be so partial as to give them the exact amount they needed again. Besides none of that was going to happen now, Ron was going to defeat Quirrell before he reached the trap door, even with the new complications he had to find a way.

The next morning was harder than he remembered but that was probably because this time he was more well known. Ron had won a lot of points for Gryffindor throughout the year, not as much as Hermione of course but a pretty decent amount nevertheless, most of the Gryffindor students knew him so they had one more familiar face to blame when they saw the giant hourglass that low.

Everywhere they went their fellow students glare at them and almost no one felt the need to talk to them, meanwhile the Slytherins kept mocking him just as Ron expected. Hermione and Neville were bewildered and they spoke very little those days. Hermione was not drawing as much attention to her in class either and that had to be good, at least in Defence Against Dark Arts class.

"Don't worry, Fred and George lose loads of points all the time and people still like them." Ron said, "People will get over it"

"They haven't lost two hundred points in one blow yet, have they?"

"Well no, but you didn't either. You only lost fifty the others are from the rest of us-"

Harry snorted, "So much better then" he said ironically.

As the time moved forward though people didn't seem to forget them and they found that the best way to get through their days was to be as invisible as possible. Ron turned nervous, he had a dozen ideas of how to sneak out of them in the forest but each one as uncertain as the last one. Even if those could work nothing guaranteed that Quirrell would go to the forest that exact day again or that the detention would be served in the same place. If they didn't go to the forbidden forest this time then things would really get out of his control.

Ron tried to keep himself optimistic though, Voldemort needed the unicorn blood and he thought that he needed to be there almost every day. Still if the detention was at a different place he would have to change his plans completely again and try to get Quirrell on another occasion.

Fortunately Ron didn't had to think about an alternate plan, the unicorns were still dying and Hagrid needed to catch the responsible so they were required there again.

The whole way to Hagrid's hut Hermione looked ashamed of herself, she really appeared to think that she deserved it. Harry and Neville looked upset too and Malfoy seemed to be quite nervous. However neither of them knew that the most conflicted person was Ron.

The redhead didn't fear the forbidden forest as they did, he feared something much more sinister. He was afraid of not being good enough to beat Quirrell since he would surely have some help from Voldemort, even when the dark wizard didn't have his body Ron couldn't stop shaking just by thinking that he was going to stand before him again. Still the most frightening thing of all was failing and leaving Harry and Hermione alone at Voldemort's reach.

Malfoy of course did a few remarks about Hagrid and about not going into the forest as soon as they met the half-giant at his hut but Malfoy was soon shut down.

"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, what we're gonna do tonight it's dangerous, I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me."

They continued across the edge of the forest until they found the first drops of unicorn's blood. That scene made the hairs at the back of Ron's head to stand out, the chilly breeze that came whistling over the leaves of the dark trees made everything more sombre.

"Nothin' in the forest 'ill hurt yeh while yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. Ron who knew the forest way more than the other first years doubted that. He only wished the trip didn't include giant spiders.

They decided to split and Ron knew that this was his chance. He needed to be away from Harry and Hermione so as soon as Malfoy picked Fang and Hagrid sent Neville with them he spoke out loud.

"- I'll go with them" he said and when Harry and Hermione looked at him weirdly he added, "Neville's group doesn't have Hagrid- err- wanna make things even"

Hagrid agreed and Neville seemed relieved of having another wand with them, Ron felt kind of guilty because he was going to leave them quite soon.

The forest was black and silent, the paths turned narrower as they walked forward with weird creaking sounds coming from everywhere. Malfoy seemed tense but it was obvious that he didn't want to look afraid in front of Ron. If it weren't for the tense situation Ron would have found a way to get him,scaring him or something.

After a while Ron decided that they were far enough and he took a step back, when Malfoy and Neville were looking away Ron cast a non-verbal disillusionment spell on himself and he blended with the trees.

Once Ron was a few feet away he remembered one of the spells he had seen on the restricted section, he hadn't practised it much but he was confident that it was going to work as he wanted, he did checked it a lot. The spell made him uneasy, it seemed like it had a dark nature but it was harmless so he thought that it was not so bad using it. Ron pulled the hood over his head and pointed the wand at his chest.

"_Umbras Occultatio_" he whispered as he did some odd movements in front of him.

Suddenly a black fog came out from the tip of his wand and he saw his hands vanishing slowly into a black smoke. Under his hood a darker shadow concealed his face and only a few unearthly sparks twinkled in the void of the shadows.

"It worked" he said mutely and his voice echoed ghostly and foreign.

Ron moved away, like gliding through the trees as he heard Neville's voice calling at his back. Then when he turned a bit he saw the red sparks heading to the skies, Neville had surely called for help. He hoped that he wouldn't have a hard time later or that Hagrid wouldn't be in trouble for missing him for a while but he had to do this and he had to do it fast.

Something like a minute later he saw Hagrid's shadow running towards the place where Neville and Maloy were, only a few feet away. It was then that it happened, everything changed for him again as he saw another set of sparks in the air, this time coming from the place where Harry and Hermione surely were. His heart skipped a beat.

Ron thundered through the forest without knowing if Hagrid had seen those sparks too but when he reached the spot he found it empty. He was terrified, he knew what wandered around the forest right now.

"Where are they?" said Ron's unnatural shadow voice, "Harry! Hermione!"

He moved eagerly around and soon he heard a growl, he followed and after a few strides he saw them in the distance. Harry and Hermione were running away from a pack of wild wolves but they didn't had much to defend themselves with. Harry was throwing some Leg-Locker curses which if the situation wouldn't have been so complicated it would had looked funny, a couple of wolves stumbled to those but they were fast and those curses were not meant for them. Hermione petrified a couple but they were just too many.

Ron reacted right away. From the back he started sending wolves away into the air as fast as he could but Harry and Hermione couldn't see him since he was covered by dark trees and big rocks. It was then that Ron saw Hermione stumble with a rock and he froze, he was too far away.

He was already raising his wand thinking about spells that he could use when Harry returned for Hermione and he helped her to her feet, a slim grey wolf jumped to them but Harry thought fast. "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" he yelled and the wolf remained floating for a while stunning the other wolves. Harry sent him aside and they continued running.

It was not long until Harry and Hermione came into a clearing before a dead end with their backs against a tall wall of rocks and surrounded by at least five hungry wolves.

"I'll distract them, you go find Hagrid!" Ron heard Harry's voice just as Hermione refused. She walked forward and put a ring of blue fire around to give them cover from the wolves but that was not going to be much of a defence.

Ron was about to jump into the clearing with the tip of his wand already ablaze when the voice of Hagrid thundered and the half-giant came through the trees at Ron's far left.

"What's goin' on in here!" he said waving his huge hands at the wolves, "Off with yeh! Go before I get mad a yeh!"

Surprisingly the wolves rushed away at Hagrid's command and it was then that Ron noticed Fang, Neville and Malfoy behind the groundskeeper. Hagrid went desperately to check on Harry and Hermione to make sure they were all right and Ron had to make a huge effort to not run there too. They hadn't seen him yet.

"Ron is missing" said Neville and Ron forced himself to walk away and continue his path, at the distance he heard Harry's and Hermione's worried voices hurrying everybody to find Ron. The redhead felt very guilty, as far as he knew they could be thinking that he was being attacked by a pack of wolves.

Silence grew thicker as he moved away and after a while Ron let his back fall against a wide tree. It felt like it had been a long time since he left the clearing and he started wondering what were the others doing. Would they be returning to the castle already? Would they expel Hagrid for losing him? Everything would have been much better if people were not expecting him to be there, if he hadn't been caught by McGonagall.

The air was stuck under the trees but at the same time it felt refreshing. He was alone, trying to enter a fight that everybody else ignored. For some silent seconds Ron did felt like a ghost, like the shadow under his cloak, empty. In some way he didn't belong to this new world, he was not who Harry and Hermione thought he was.

Then as he raised his foot from the ground to continue his way he saw the small pond of silvery liquid, it was beautiful and heart trenching at the same time. It was unicorn's blood. He followed the tracks.

For a while nothing happened, it was as if the sound had been taken out of the world and the forest around him became thicker. The smell was deep and an invisible fog seem to cover the surroundings in sadness and desperation. Then the creaking sounds came and after a couple of strides over the silvery blood Ron knew he had found what he came to look.

Over a high rock at his right Ron distinguished the black hooded figure leaning on the innocent unicorn, taking away just the thing than could keep him alive as the weak wrenching wails seemed to come from all directions. Ron gulped and he wondered if he could be sweating through his now shadowy presence because it really felt like it, he breathed fast then raised his ghostly voice as much as he dared.

"Quirrell!"

The black cloak lifted at once from the now motionless unicorn and moved around until he found him. Ron was standing just below the small cliff where Quirrell was and he wondered if Voldemort would be able to see through his shadow disguise. If Voldemort could recognize Ron then everything will be changed big time even if he defeated Quirrell, the dark wizard's future moves would change as he would keep eye open on the mysterious redhead boy who beat his minion.

"Who are you?" a voice said as the figure came down before him.

"It doesn't matter. I know who you are helping, I know who you are" said Ron.

"Do you?" said Quirrell as he showed his face for the first time. Ron had never seen him like that, so physically shaken as if drinking the unicorn's blood took a lot from him. His turban was still on but it was obvious that he wasn't even going to try to pretend to be the shy teacher in front of him.

"You have Voldemort on the back of your head but not for long. This is as far as you get." he answered, his wand looked unnatural on his shadowy hands.

Quirrell looked surprised, "Shut up you fool!" he shouted as he took out his wand in a sudden movement and a purple beam was fired directly at Ron.

Ron waved it aside as if the curse was nothing to him, the fact was that he had been expecting it.

"Impressive" hissed a voice and Ron had to suppress a chill. "You- have my attention"

Right then Ron felt Voldemort pressing against his mind barriers, trying to read him through. It was a strong attack as Ron hadn't felt anything before but he was trained and there was no way that he would yield for that, if Voldemort wanted information he would have to cast a direct curse and Ron was not going to let him get that far.

"_Incarcerous_!" Ron yelled pointing his curse at Quirrell but as he expected the man leaned aside and fired back. Ron covered himself under a near rock.

"So not a shadow after all... shadows don't fear a hit" said Voldemort's voice.

"Reveal yourself!" shouted Quirrell.

Ron took advantage of his shadow form and sneaked in the darkness, he fired a disarming spell from Quirrell's right but the fake professor skipped it. The redhead could feel Voldemort's presence poking on his head, even if he wasn't giving anything out the dark wizard could feel his presence.

"Who are you?..."

"It is only a child hiding my master" said Quirrell noticing Ron's size.

"And who would that be?... perhaps... but no- it's not possible... Potter?" said Voldemort's hissing voice.

"It can't be, the kid has no talent. You have checked that yourself"

"Don't question me!" echoed Voldemort's thundering voice as Ron tried to find a weak spot.

"Sorry my master! It won't happen again!" Quirrell's eyes looked terrified.

"Potter has no talent but he has a secret that I need to discover, maybe if he is that good at Occlumancy he has been faking his real powers. It doesn't matter either way, his powers cannot compare to mine"

Ron heard them discuss it, they were not sure who he was and at least that was working out for him. They were surely puzzled but they seemed to be quite certain that it was a student by his movements and shape. Ron didn't know if them thinking that he was Harry was a good thing but he decided not to confirm nor deny their suspicions.

"Stupefy!"

That one almost hit Voldemort but Ron knew that he was not going to win like that. At his next strike Ron received a counter-curse that he barely dodged, his cheek hurt though and even when his shadowy presence wouldn't reveal it he knew he had been cut.

Spells of all colors lightened the dark forest at instants as Ron tried to find a moment of distraction on Quirrell. The man fired back too and Ron had to move carefully, one hit and he would be finished. He was having trouble fighting with his small body, he knew that with his grown-up body he should have taken Quirrell down by now but he was not used to duel with his small arms and legs.

Ron came then into the open and he raised a _protego_ just in time to deflect a couple of curses as he shoot beams of red light, Quirrell run to the other way shooting back. The curses hit Ron's shield as small rain drops and one actually broke it and send him to crash against a rough mount of ground at his back.

"Bloody hell..." Ron muttered lifting himself at once to avoid an attack, the cold air intruding his longs roughly.

"You are nothing!" yelled Ron, his breathing was difficult "You are just a face on a head Tom!"

That seemed to do it as Ron heard Voldemort out of balance, "I'm Lord Voldemort! I'll make sure you won't be here to witness my return foolish boy!"

Ron kept teasing him using his Muggle name and at the same time shooting all kinds of curses. "Dumbledore is way better than you! he is waiting back at the castle, you know that don't you?"

"Lies! the old man would be here if he knew I was around!" the hissing voice shouted, "I have fooled him!"

At that moment Ron threw an exploding spell at Quirrell's side and when he got distracted Ron appeared behind his back, the fake professor barely had time to turn when Ron hit him hard on the chest with a stunner. The turban man was projected against a twisted blue tree at his back and he feel to the floor there.

The silence covered it all again, Ron didn't knew if he had won already but he decided to be cautious. He walked slowly there, one step at a time and when he was close enough to see him he used an _Accio_ spell on his turban. The look at Voldemort's face was hideous and made Ron shiver.

"You stupid fool! You won't be able to stop me!"

At that moment Ron felt the strongest hit against his mind yet, Voldemort was trying desperately to enter his head and for while Ron lowered his wand.

"You are nothing, it doesn't matter if you are Potter or not! you are not a match for me!"

Ron knew then that if he had faced Voldemort instead of Quirrell he wouldn't had stand a chance, much less on his eleven-year old body. The same despair sensations he got when he wore the locket were overwhelming him but he forced them aside. He thought about Hermione and how she didn't knew anything of this yet, he thought about the older Hermione too and at the end he knew that he had to finish this.

"Enough!" Ron yelled, "I-I know I can't defeat you here, but you had lost a battle today Tom. Geroff this body now!" he pointed his wand at the surprised face of the dark wizard.

"This is not over!"

"You're bloody right! I'm just beginning" Ron answered and remembered the right spell from the dusty book at the restricted section. "_Expulsis Malis_!" he shouted.

The face on Quirrell's back started to contort expelling screams of pure pain as Ron turned more agitated, a white light was covering Quirrell's body now. Then the face of Voldemort flew away in the distance and Ron felt that he had won his first real battle since he was sorted again. Incredibly he had succeeded this time.

Ron let out a huge sigh feeling exhausted, he knelt with caution next to Quirrell. He was still alive. He picked up his wand and then something echoed at his back that made him froze.

"You are not supposed to be here"

Ron was startled and turned quickly to a place not far away when a figure was now standing. For a moment he thought it was a man mounting a horse but he soon realized that it was a centaur and not just any centaur but Firenze.

The redhead didn't know what to do, he had been caught with the lying body of a professor and two wands on his hands. The centaur though didn't look like he was about to fight him or even question him, Firenze just stood there with his white blond hair waving with the cold night breeze. He was waiting for something.

"I-I- Voldemort was possessing him!" Ron shouted, trying to justify himself but he thought no one would believe that.

Firenze didn't seem to care but looked at him more deeply, "That's not up to discussion but there is only one truth here, this is not your place" he said and slowly he raised his sight above trying to get a better look at the skies.

Right then Ron felt defenceless, it was as if Firenze knew everything about him, like he could see right through his shadow figure and even deeper. It turned out he was right, Ron was not supposed to be there. It was not his choice to step into that time pool but that didn't change things, he didn't belong to this world and for a moment he imagined the world being broken just because he was there.

Firenze returned his deep eyes to him and they both stared at each other for a while, then without any other word Ron raised his wand to the skies. After a swift movement flaming red sparks brightened the night and Ron moved his shadow body away from Quirrell and the centaur. Firenze didn't move as Ron fled into the night.


	16. A Useless Trip

The news of the attack on Professor Quirrell spread across the school like a hissing fire. Some people thought that he had been tracked down by a vengeful vampire that he met during one of his trips, others believed he just got lost at the forest and wandered around until he fainted from exhaustion. Either way there was not a single theory that was remotely close to the truth.

The general feeling was of nervousness and doubt, specially from the Hogwarts' staff which hadn't stopped looking for answers. As expected the people who were at the forest that night were questioned over and over again, even Ron who was separated from the main group at some point. He was afraid of being caught but fortunately it didn't seem like that was going to happen this time. A welcomed change from his most recent bad luck for sure.

After the fight the redhead had been quick in getting out of his shadow spell and by the time he returned to the spot where he threw the red sparks he found Hagrid and everybody else already surrounding Quirrell's unconscious body. Harry and Hermione stormed to him at once looking quite relieved of finding him with no harm, then Ron made his best to feign surprise about the now turbanless professor.

He decided to let someone find Quirrell's wand lying on the forest also, after all there was no way that they could track him from Quirrell's last spells even if they decided to check the wand. Although Ron wondered what the headmaster and Snape would think about the situation if they got hints about the fight that took place.

At the Hospital Wing Snape had been surprised after looking at Quirrell, the professor had been suspecting Quirrell for some time now and seeing him defeated like that must have caused quite an impression on him. However it was Dumbledore who really worried Ron, as they were dismissed to their bedrooms the redhead saw the headmaster moving his curious eyes between him and Harry, like wondering if any of them had anything to do with what happened.

"Where were you either way?" asked Harry as soon as he got a chance to talk to him.

Ron shrugged, "Somewhere with trees?... If I hadn't seen the red sparks I might still be there you know"

According to Ron he had seen trails of the unicorn's blood and tried to follow them but when he turned around Malfoy and Neville were nowhere to be found. Ron said that he saw Malfoy's and Neville's sparks sometime later but since Harry's and Hermione's sparks came also he choose to go there instead, he insisted that by the time that he arrived to the spot there was no one around so he tried to give a look nearby for a while. It was a stupid story of course since he had plenty of chances to throw red sparks himself but he told them that he was about to throw his own sparks when he saw the ones that led him to Quirrell.

Harry, Hermione and Hagrid didn't doubt Ron's words, on the other hand people like Professor McGonagall were too shocked by Quirrell's condition to give much thought to Ron. Only Dumbledore had raised his eyebrows a bit at Ron's story, surely finding a few lucky coincidences here and there. However if the headmaster had more serious suspicions about Ron he didn't let it show.

Ron couldn't stop thinking about Quirrell either, the former professor was now lying unconscious on a bed and Ron kept wondering if the man would be able to remember something once he woke up. He imagined that Quirrell would wake up eventually since the spell he had used on him was to get rid of evil presences not to damage the professor physically. Even so in this situation the redhead was clueless.

Surprising enough one of Ron's plans had actually worked this time, and it was not an easy one, still he somehow ended up feeling more lost than before. He acted against all what he knew about time travel, he deliberately changed events and now he was in front of a long and uncertain path.

_You are not supposed to be here_, those were Firenze's words. The centaurs were quite mysterious about their future foreshadowing abilities and Ron imagined that Firenze must have sensed something in him at the forest but he still hoped that they didn't know more. At least he had been disguised.

According to Harry they saw a few centaurs in the forest too but there was nothing unexpected in that meeting, only cryptic messages about the moon. The wolves' attack and Quirrell seemed to be all what Harry and Hermione had in their heads apparently.

The atmosphere in Hogwarts was tense, even the twins didn't joke about Quirrell as much as they used to. These were not war times so something like that really caught the attention of everybody, even the Ministry sent officials to discuss the matter with Dumbledore.

"It was Snape I'm telling you, he attacked Professor Quirrell" said Harry on their way to breakfast.

"Are you sure?"

Harry nodded, "Who else? Snape wants the stone, maybe professor Quirrell was trying to stop him"

"Rubbish! Professor Quirrell wouldn't be able to stop a pixie" said Ron looking away. Harry stared at him, probably wondering what a pixie was.

"-And Professor Snape was here in the castle, we saw him" added Hermione.

"I know that but maybe he moved fast- or he has someone else working for him at the forest"

Hermione didn't look convinced but she didn't say anything against the idea either. At least Ron was now comfortable with letting them form their own theories, there was no Voldemort hanging around on someone's head anymore. The danger was gone.

The days passed and Professor Quirrell didn't woke up, he was even moved to St. Mungo's where they could treat him better. Whatever Professor Dumbledore was thinking that happened was a mystery to Ron though. He didn't know if Dumbledore could go into Quirrell's head now, specially since Voldemort was not there to protect his mind anymore. It would change a lot if the old wizard discovered what happened at the forest but Ron tried to convince himself that even if he could get into the man's head or check his wand Dumbledore didn't had a way to see Ron's involvement in all of it.

It was of course a mystery that Dumbledore wouldn't rest until he solved, specially since he was surely linking the events on the forest to what happened to Hermione a few weeks earlier.

Things were way too crazy for first year, many things changed because of Ron's actions and there was not a day in which he didn't wonder if it had been for good. It was clearly the best choice with Quirrell so close to Hermione but if he hadn't messed things up from the very beginning he might have not needed to do it. There was not going to be a trip through the trap door now that Quirrell was gone and Dumbledore was looking way more worried than last time. There were other things that changed too like Harry not knowing of Voldemort himself being after the stone, Ron didn't know if that was a good thing though, he didn't want Harry to be unprepared when the most difficult tasks arrived.

On the bright side after the whole wolves' experience Hermione and Harry turned closer than ever. The three of them appeared to be friends again which really surprised Ron, he had wasted a lot of energy trying to put them back together and what seemed to work at the end was not doing anything at all. Ron was happy that they seemed to be the trio again but that also meant that Hermione was now pressing them harder to study for the exams, the redhead tried to explain that he already knew most of the things but Hermione wouldn't hear about it and she kept them focused on the tests.

He did impressively well in most of them of course, even surprising McGonagall with an effortless mouse-to-snuffbox transfiguration.

Since Quirrell was out it was up to Snape to put the Defence exam on them which was not very comfortable. Still the potions teacher had a lot on his head with the attack on Quirrell and the term was almost over so he didn't got a chance to mess with them as much as he would have liked.

The last exam was the most difficult for Ron, History of Magic, he was pretty sure that he couldn't remember any single detail from his previous Hogwarts' experience about that subject so he got out of that one as uncertain about the result as Harry.

Harry hadn't mention Voldemort at all this time but he kept blaming Quirrell's attack on Snape.

"It has to be him" he said once again after History of Magic's exam, "If Professor Quirrell was really stopping Snape from getting the stone that would mean that he is very close to it"

"If that were true wouldn't Professor Snape have the stone by now?" asked Hermione.

"Well- maybe he's missing something... some other protection... what about Fluffy?"

Considering all the changes that Ron had made it was surprising how could they end up on the same things again. They questioned Hagrid and just as before it was not hard to discover that he slipped the three-headed dog's weakness. As last time Harry became more certain that it was all Snape's doing and he kept pressing them on the topic.

They went to talk to Professor McGonagall of course and as Ron expected this time Professor Dumbledore didn't left the school precisely that day. Still McGonagall was outraged that they thought that the stone could be stolen and she didn't even took them to the headmaster. It was not like they would find anything going to Dumbledore though, the responsible of everything had been Quirrell and he was not around anymore.

It was then that Ron thought about something more, since no one would try to steal the stone this time it was probable that it remained there even after the term finished. He didn't know how different things could play out with the Sorcerer's Stone under the school's roof when the war began but he decided not to meddle to much about it for now.

Ron was sure of one thing though and that was that he didn't want to be around for next term, the worst had passed and he had to restart his efforts to get back to his own time. Time was running out and unless he was very lucky he would end up starting second year without a solution.

Unfortunately Ron couldn't start his search right away since Harry kept pressing them that the stone was in immediate danger. Ron's friend took them with him to as much visits to the third floor corridor as possible, to make sure that Fluffy was still growling. They didn't try anything that day of course, Dumbledore was still around and there was no indication that pointed to someone trying to get through the trap door.

The next couple of days Harry was so focused on protecting the stone that Ron had to remind him that he had a Quidditch game just around the corner. It was a nice surprise seeing Harry win that one, he seemed more relaxed under the broom and even when at the end they couldn't take the cup from Ravenclaw Harry was glad enough for finishing on top of Slytherin. It was refreshing being at the stands cheering Harry up with Hermione instead of waiting for him to wake up at the Hospital Wing.

Still everything changed for Ron the next day.

"I still can't understand how Hufflepuff ended last..." said Hermione.

"It's not difficult Hermione, they beat us but they lost their two other games" answered Ron.

"Yes but Slytherin lost two games also"

"Well you need to consider the scores on each, you'll see Slytherin beat Hufflepuff by thirty points and..."

"Stop, can you hear that?" Harry interrupted them suddenly, they were back at the third floor corridor since the black haired boy hadn't drop the topic.

"I don't hear anything" said Ron.

"Me neitherm, shouldn't we be hearing Fluffy now?"

Ron was surprised by that so he stayed quiet for a while trying to hear the three-headed dog, nothing. That was pretty unusual but there was surely nothing wrong, he hadn't heard anything about Quirrell being out of St. Mungo's and Voldemort was to weak to try to get the stone on his own.

"Do you think that someone is in there?" asked Hermione walking to the door next to Harry, he nodded.

"It's surely nothing" said Ron who was confident that nothing was happening. Going in there was of no use, he was sure of it.

"Ron this is serious, what if Snape already got through it?"

"That's rubbish, he wouldn't try anything with Dumbledore here and-"

"We could go ask for Professor Dumbledore" said Hermione.

"- But what if he's already in? we should do something" insisted Harry, "Wait I hear a sound... but- something's not right..."

Hermione must had noticed it too because she took out her wand and unlocked the door, they gave a little peek inside and after that they entered the room. Apparently she was not that convinced about not breaking that rule anymore. Ron was taken aback and stormed after them kind of expecting Fluffy to growl loudly or try to attack them. "NO! wait..."

What Ron found inside almost made him fall to the floor. Harry and Hermione were staring at the huge dog - Hermione for the first time - but Fluffy was not barking at them, it wasn't even awake. Next to the huge sleeping dog a big box seemed to be playing a soft and quiet melody, like a giant music box. It took Ron some time to get used to the dim light there but when he did his blue eyes travelled to a certain spot on the floor and he contained a gasp. The trap door was there but it was wide opened as if someone had just gone down through it.

"Bu-but.."

Ron couldn't believe what he was seeing, that didn't made sense. Was it possible that Quirrell had gone out of St. Mungo's and come all the way there before anyone knew? Did he know that Ron had been the one who attacked him?

"This is not ri-right" said Ron.

"Someone just went through it"

Hermione looked surprised.

"I-It's not possible..." mumbled Ron.

"Of course it is, can't you see that thing opened?" asked Harry, "I'm going down, you can go and see if you can find Professor Dumbledore"

"We'll go with you" said Hermione, "You'll need us, right Ron?"

Ron knew that something was pretty wrong and the last thing he wanted was to let them go through there but he didn't had a way to stop them. He wanted to know who was there too but for a moment he found himself stunned, feeling that he didn't know anything at all. Ron nodded slowly.

Before he knew it they were at the room with the tons keys flying around, Ron hadn't stop wondering what was really happening. Other than Quirrell he didn't had a clue of who might be there, probably Barty Crouch Jr would try to get the stone if Voldemort came across him but the man shouldn't be free yet. Maybe it was Dumbledore checking the stone or the spells and everything would be all right.

"Ron? did you listen to me?" asked Harry.

"Er... yes sorry, I'm flying on the top and Hermione will stay down here. You would try to catch the key"

Harry nodded looking at the redhead weirdly.

When the chess board extended in front of them again Ron remembered the words of Firenze. He was not supposed to be here, this was all wrong and he was almost sure that at some point he had made another mistake. Perhaps they had imagined that music box or maybe he was dreaming...

No, that was way too stupid. It had to be Quirrell, the mystery was how he did it and who helped him.

When it was obvious to Harry and Hermione that they would have to play chess to pass to the next room they turned to Ron. The board was quite familiar but in some way it also felt more gloomy and puzzling. Should he help them pass? If he did Ron might be putting them in danger with Quirrell again something that he had thought it was not going to happen now. On the other hand if he didn't they might end up injured by the chessmen and he wouldn't be able to refuse without complicated explanations.

For a while Ron considered telling them all the truth right there but he put it away soon. They were too young of course but the real problem was that thing on Harry's forehead, if Voldemort found out about Ron and the time travel through his connection to Harry then everything would be a bloody disaster. He knew it.

Ron chose the knight again and put Harry and Hermione on a bishop and a rook at his right. This time he knew the opponent so he adapted his game a bit and by the time it was all over the three of them were still standing on McGonagall's huge board, it was not an easy game of course and they even got a couple of close calls but soon they were facing the door to the next room. It was then that Ron realized that for the first time in his life he was going to put a foot on the next room of that twisted obstacle course.

His heart was beating with such a strength that it seemed like it was knocking on his chest. Who was helping Quirrell? he imagined that it could be that ruddy rat that he had brought to Hogwarts but that would mean that the traitor had found about him and it was not a hopeful thought. So far Ron had tried to ignore the rat to keep things unchanged but he didn't know what to do now that he had actively changed the future by the events on the forest.

If it really was Peter Pettrigrew the one who helped Quirrell then it had been a huge mistake not turning him over to Dumbledore as soon as he got the chance. Sirius was suffering in Azkaban and if Ron have lost the opportunity to free him he would never forgive himself.

"Well lets go" hurried them Harry.

"Are you sure Harry, maybe it's just Dumbledore and we are going to be in trouble again" said Ron nervously as a last resource to keep them away.

The doors to the next room swung open and the sight that they got was sickening. A huge mountain troll was slammed against the walls and his chest seemed to be crushed, Hermione appeared to be quite shaken by it. "I don't think Professor Dumbledore would do this" said Harry.

Slowly they walked across the room trying not to look directly at the creature, except for Ron who stood behind for a moment trying to imagine what curse had been used on it. It seemed like a powerful _reducto_ blast but using it on a living thing like that was gut-wrenching.

Something then caught Ron's attention, something different. If Quirrell was the one doing this why hadn't he sent that fake letter to Dumbledore this time, the headmaster have been eating breakfast that very morning at the sight of everybody so Ron knew he was still around. How did Quirrell planned to get out if Dumbledore was on the way?

Ron didn't know what but something just didn't add up in the whole thing. It was as if it all was a suicide mission, as if Quirrell only planned to get in but without a clear plan for escaping. He got a familiar feeling at that, a sombre sensation that he had felt some time ago, on what appeared to be a different world.

The blue eyes expanded and he turned to Harry and Hermione at once, "No, wait!" he yelled but it was too late, they had already crossed the door to the next room.

Ron raced to where they were and just before he got there the door closed loudly and purple flames covered the entrance completely. He tried to go forward either way but when he reached the place he was thrown to his back with his hands burning, the purple fire was cold but it burnt the same.

"Damn it!" Ron wailed.

He stood up and still shaking his hands he returned to the door. It was closed and there was no way of going through it like that, if he remembered correctly he needed Snape's potion to do it, however he kept trying with all the spells he knew.

Nothing, the door didn't open and the purple fire didn't vanish, he had no way of reaching Harry or Hermione no matter how hard he tried.

Ron was desperate, he shouldn't have let them go there first. It was all wrong, he suddenly felt as if he was back at those barricades in front of the Ministry's doors, with no way out and being attacked from both places. He couldn't go back to get Dumbledore and leave them there and apparently he couldn't go forward either.

He kept trying but all what he got was more burning wounds. Then, all of a sudden, the fire whistled and Hermione came out of it.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled holding her in a crushing hug, "are you all right? what happened!? where's Harry?"

The girl seemed shaken by Ron's reaction, her cheeks a little pink, "Eh... I'm fine- We tried to get you but we couldn't go back through the fire... I mean I could but that was after taking a potion. It was brilliant- it was a logic challenge can you believe it? I know that he's trying to get the stone but-"

Ron was stunned by the sudden information but soon things clicked on his head, "Harry, he didn't go forward to next room, did he?"

The bushy haired girl seemed confused, after all they were there to stop Snape from taking the stone, why wouldn't he go forward?

"H-He did- but that's why we're here- what happened?"

"I-I- got a bad feeling..." Ron said as he returned to the purple fire to see if he could go on now that Hermione had returned.

"I do too but there's no time for that, we have to go get Dumbledore. Harry asked me to do so!" she said pulling Ron away from the fire, "He'll be all right"

Ron didn't know what to say, surely Dumbledore could be helpful but it would take a long time to get him. He couldn't leave Harry like that when he didn't know what he was facing, didn't he?

Of course Harry had faced a lot of deathly scenarios when he didn't know what he was going to find before but this time Ron could help, Harry didn't need to be alone now. Many times on the previous timeline they had gone lucky and Ron knew that his presence here could have affected that luck, any of the events he had changed could cause things to go awfully wrong for them. Besides he got an odd feeling about all this trip that was not supposed to be needed.

"Ron! your hands, are you all right?" Hermione hurried.

"It's nothing, listen..." started Ron, "You go, grab a broom for the room with the keys and go get help. I'll try to go through"

"But it can't be done, the purple fire needs the potion. It is blocked"

Ron knew that but he couldn't just leave Harry. He had to find a way.

The redhead looked for other ways forward but it was obvious that the purple fire was the only way to go. Ron was about to repeat the spells he had already tried - even those that Hermione would have found suspicious - when something happened. The purple fire flickered again and suddenly they were thrown backwards.

Ron tried to help Hermione to her feet and once it was clear that she was all right he turned to the purple flames. There standing in front of the fire was a man laughing wickedly at them, but it was not Snape, and it was not Quirrell.


	17. Not Alone

Those pale eyes were shinning at him with their unnatural blue light, like a ghost from a past life coming back to haunt him. Ron hadn't forgotten them but they seemed to belong to a different time now, one of struggle and despair.

The man behind those eyes had the same pointy nose and chin but he looked somewhat different, way younger. He was still standing by the fire so the purple light gave his face an otherworldly glow.

Cold sweat began to drop from Ron's face as he gripped his wand strongly, he didn't know how that man being there was even possible so he started reconsidering that he might really be dreaming after all. His memories of that day were fuzzy but he still remembered him perfectly, lurking through the shadows of the tables at that dark place.

"Weasleys!, what a pleasant surprise" said the pale-eyed man with his rough accent, he was calmed just as he had been that day in the Time Room.

"I'm not a Weasley, I'm Hermione Granger" said the girl next to Ron looking confused.

"Of course you are" replied the man softly and his smile widened. The pale eyes were set on both of them but somehow Ron knew that the man was only looking at him, thinking about how was he going to react, weighting him.

Hermione was quick to frown, "Who are you? what have you done to Harry?!"

It was not until then that Ron noticed a figure not far from the man's feet and his own blue eyes expanded. The redhead was speechless as he moved his sight between the girl next to him and the laying body of his friend, without knowing if he was alive or not.

"Oh who? this boy?" said the man moving Harry weakly with his right foot, "He's not dead, I don't think so, are you boy?" he asked turning to Harry but when he didn't got an answer he shrugged.

"Leave him alone!" Hermione yelled holding her wand, she turned to Ron like asking what were they going to do now but Ron didn't know how to answer.

Ron couldn't think of one single spell that could be of use now. He didn't know what happened to Harry or if Hermione would try something that could end up pretty bad, she was no match to that man. Ron was terrified, he couldn't protect the three of them at the same time.

"_Frigidus Ignis_!"

"No! Hermione wait!" as the blue fire flew from Hermione towards the man's wand arm Ron rushed to put himself in front of her, waiting for a counter-attack.

The pale-eyed man didn't attack though, he just flicked his wand aside and the blue fire turned into tiny sparks that spread around. "What a lovely spell" he said mocking her, "you must be very proud"

Ron was still trying to think quickly, he now could cover her from harm decently but he was far away from a comfortable position, the man knew that. It felt like he was back at that gloomy room with the time artefacts, he could almost expect the dark fog to come any moment now.

"Why are you here?!" Ron demanded.

The scene was bizarre but tense also, Ron had forgotten where they were and even the dead troll in the room, all his attention was set on the pale-eyed man. It was as if there was only the two of them. Ron's question didn't have anything to do with the obstacle course but Hermione didn't know that.

The only thing that Ron was certain by this point was that the man had travelled back in time with him, it was obvious that Ron's secret was probably going to be exposed too and he regretted not having told Hermione and Harry earlier but at that moment that was the least important thing to worry about. The redhead needed to know how that man was here with them and what had he changed, he had the knowledge of the future also, things could be a disaster by now. The man understood his question for sure but even so he didn't answer as Ron would have liked.

"Why am I here? For the same reason as you I presume, there is only one good reason to be here after all" he smiled and then took something out of his pocket, a blood red stone.

"Ron! is that..."

Yes it was, the Sorcerer's Stone. Ron was stunned, another complication.

"Around a month ago I was far away from here attending a few personal projects that you wouldn't be interested in when I... well- I received some information" the man added looking intensively at Ron, "I decided that I had to come here and help a partner with his quest to the stone, unfortunately by the time I got here someone had stopped his progress already and I had to take it from there. I was very disappointed by it, it seems that the person who opposed my partner had... this knowledge before me."

Ron wasn't sure of it but it appeared as if the man was trying to tell him that he had been in the past for less time than Ron. He didn't know why would he tell him that, maybe he was just trying to find out how long had Ron been there or how much had he done. Suddenly Ron was afraid that the man had done something to his family, they were not on war now so the wards on the Burrow were not strong at all. Ron hoped that in his rush to help Quirrell the man didn't had time for that, the redhead shouldn't be thinking about it at least not until he got the three of them out of that trap.

Still it was intriguing that the pale eyed man hadn't said anything more openly yet, it was obvious that Hermione didn't know anything about Ron's secret.

"You were helping Professor Snape!" said Hermione.

"Severus Snape? Oh please don't, not the best partner. Quirinus Quirrell, he was the one I was looking for girl, I could have helped him with this precious stone and he could have help me get something that I wanted" he said playing with the red stone on his left hand, "Snape is a disgrace I'm afraid, never really on our side. Fits the type though, doesn't he?"

Hermione was confused but Ron wasn't, this man knew that Quirrell had access to Voldemort and the man wanted to track him down. Ron was still holding his wand at him, moving his eyes to Harry once in a while, wondering when he would get a chance to try something.

"Quirrell!? but he couldn't have... I mean it was Snape"

"I thought you were clever Granger." the man said, "Well enough chit chat. I'm really sorry but don't have much time for games, I'll take the boy with me and this lovely red stone. Please get out of my way"

At that the man threw a powerful spell towards them, shinning with the same purple tone as the flames behind him. Ron raised a shield over him and Hermione just in time. He didn't know how he was going to fight him, protect Hermione and save Harry and the stone at the same time but he was surely going to give it a try.

Hermione's eyes grew in surprise.

"_Flipendo_!" yelled Ron but the spell was quickly cast aside. That spell was impressive on a first year but nothing that could tell that he was really a grown-up auror, even so he was ready to use things that could discover him in front of Hermione if he got a chance for a hit. "Come on, move!"

Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and he pulled her to his right as he kept attacking and defending, the man seemed to be amused by it, he had barely moved at all. After her initial shock Hermione started helping too but there was no way her blue flames were going to caught the mysterious man off guard, it was surprising but Ron still didn't know the man's name.

"The Dark Lord is coming, you might have made me lose one chance but I will find him again. I will rebuild my army. You better not think that I'm as weak as Quirinus"

Ron didn't let the man's words get to him but Hermione was distracted enough to allow the pale-eyed man a better hit.

"_Diffindo_"

If Ron had taken one more second to tackle Hermione to the floor he wouldn't have made it. He held her tightly pressed against his body even after they hit the solid cobblestones on the floor. Hermione's eyes were huge looking at him and her cheeks were slightly pink, she couldn't move or say a word. Unfortunately Ron soon felt a piercing pain coming from his left arm, he had been cut nastily, "Argh bloody hell!"

The loud laughs of the foreign man echoed around.

"RON! Are you all right? I'm sorry I'm- " Hermione came back to herself trying to move a hand to Ron's arm but before she reached it Ron raised a bit.

"Leave it!- _Protego_!" he yelled barely saving them, the pale-eyed man was still there.

They were lost, they couldn't win like this, he knew it, the man was just playing with them but he would be done soon. Harry was laying behind the man, he had a better position but he was not the auror that Ron remembered and he was unconscious and wandless, Ron could see his friend's wand poking out of one of the man's pockets.

Then Ron got the opportunity that he needed. After another of Ron's spells was deflected Hermione threw something that were not blue flames. "_Wingardium Levoisa_!" she yelled.

Ron was confused for a moment but then he saw the dead troll's club raising a bit distracting the pale-eyed man just enough. Ron threw a couple of curses that were dodged but a third one was able to throw the man backwards, he would have made another hit but Hermione threw her blue flames again and made him miss his chance. Even so the opportunity was enough for Ron to throw a non-verbal _rennervate_ on Harry that luckily Hermione didn't notice.

The man was already too far away from Harry so when Hermione noticed the black haired boy stirring she ran towards him. Ron followed protecting her and since Hermione was focused on Harry he was able to cast non-verbal _accio_ on the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry's wand.

"How did you got those?" Hermione asked as Ron handed Harry his wand and the stone.

"He dropped them, lets go he's coming!"

Harry started mumbling about Quirrell, the mirror of Erised and the mysterious pale-eyed man as they dragged him towards the door. The man soon stood up though, "Quite surprising Weasley," he said with a hideous smile, he was not that amused now, "Enough games already!"

Ron saw the green light one instant before it was too late, "To the ground!" he yelled tackling Hermione and Harry to the floor as the deathly curse passed just over his back. The huge cut on his arm hurt more than ever and wound on his hands for trying to get through the purple fire ached when they touched the rough stones. It was all pure confusion and an unnatural sense of danger, Ron could almost swear that he was hearing young Parker fall to the floor again. The most dangerous parts were always those when you thought that everything was all right.

"Ron! your arm!" shouted Harry.

The redhead forced himself away from the memories of the Black Memorial's rubble and back to the troll's room, he needed to stay focused. "Doesn't matter lets go!" he said, Harry threw a unsuccessful Leg-Locker curse to the attacker but Ron kept pushing them forward as he raised a shield, "That won't work, move!"

As soon as they crossed to the chess board Ron hurried them to get Dumbledore but right then walls raised from the floor and the chessmen started attacking them. It was like a huge chess maze and that gave Ron the first idea of how skillful was the foreign man that had followed him through time.

Harry and Hermione tried some simple spells but Ron kept them moving forward, trying not to take so much time on those chessmen. The Leg-Locker curse didn't have any effect on the chessmen but as they ran to the exit Ron saw a few pieces moved aside by levitation charms coming from his friends. Harry was even able to jump aside and dodge a couple of attacks from a group of pawns as the headed to the door on the other side of the room.

The three of them ended up facing a blocked way ahead with paths at both sides and it was then that a purple curse came smashing. Harry dragged Hermione towards one path as Ron dove to the other, chunks of stone blocked them from reaching one another. This was the time to trust them, Hermione and Harry could make it through a couple of living chessmen and he had to go back and stop the foreign man from coming after them.

Ron frowned and made up his mind, he turned back and moved across the newly made walls breaking through them.

"_Reducto_!" he crashed an armed chess knight at one turn and a solid wall at the next, he had a nasty frown on his face and blood dripping from his left arm, "Where are you? where are you- you ruddy bastard!?"

He had to make sure that the man didn't follow Harry and Hermione so he put down every single wall and chessman he found, at one point he had to transfigure one bishop into a solid iron ball and smash the remaining chess pieces with it.

Finally Ron found himself facing the foreign man with the way towards the flying keys room at his back, blocked by the remaining walls, Harry and Hermione needed to be there already. All what was left between him and the pale-eyed man was stone debris.

"Maybe I underestimated you" said the man devilishly. The Sorcerer's Stone was away from him and his eyes reflected anger but the rest of his body appeared to be relaxed.

"Why are you here?!" Ron repeated his question from earlier but with more anger this time.

"For the same reason I was at the Ministry when we first met. To bring the Dark Lord back, I might had lost the stone but I have something far more precious. Knowledge, if you are not able to use it I am."

Ron's sweat was dripping furiously across his head. What he was going to do now, compared to this the previous changes that had happened were nothing, merely a joke. How he was going to protect the ones he loved now when there was a mad man from the future around there? He couldn't even think about going back to his own time now.

"_Filipendo_!" Ron roared.

It was dodged easily, "Come on Weasley, your dear mudblood is gone. We are not going to be playing with simple spells all day, are we?"

"Shut up!"

Ron continued throwing curses as he moved to his left, trying to take advantage of the debris, he was not doing much though. He was not as good dueling with his small body and his left arm was in a very bad shape. The cut had been deep and he was already feeling dizzy.

From time to time Ron was blinking and he thought that he was going nuts. One second he was facing this foreign man surrounded by chessmen debris and the next the stones and dust turned black and he was at the Ministry's Atrium again. It was mesmerizing and he knew that he kept losing focus he was going to lose. Ron pushed himself forward though, for Hermione, for his past life. The redhead attacked with all what he got, blasting the chess board at the man's left and making him dive the other way.

"So much energy!" the pale-eyed man mocked him as Ron dodged a purple beam, "Beware, I like to make my moves slower. One of these days you will wake up and find a letter on the hands of someone you know, telling things you wouldn't want them to know. Maybe something less subtle than a letter, a visit perhaps?" he said.

"Stay away from them you prick, if you do something to them-"

"What will you do precisely? You had already lost" the foreign man said smiling, "Checkmate, Weasley"

Then the man flicked his wand and out of nowhere came another chess piece, a knight, it came flying from above and if Ron hadn't dodge it in time he would had ended as a red haired spot on the chess board. As soon as he was on the floor he tried to turn and attack but he was on a bad position, the knight kicked him hard on his wand arm and Charlie's wand flew away as Ron grabbed his arm in pain. His hand was surely broken by the hit, he could feel his bones complaining.

"Argh!" he yelled falling against the cold squares of the board.

Ron had been defeated on the chess board after all. He knew he was lost so he raised the eyes towards the foreign man expecting his end, if he was lucky he would return to his wife on the after life. He only wished that the younger Hermione and Harry had made it out of there and that they could sort things out. Across from him the pale-eyed man didn't say anything, he only stared at him looking beyond happiness.

The redhead let his face fell to the dusty board in resignation but right then the most unexpected thing happened. He heard a blasting sound as he felt little solid pieces of stone hitting his body, even before opening his eyes he knew that the chess knight had exploded. When he finally got an image of what was going on he found someone standing between him and the foreign man.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" demanded the strongest voice that he had ever heard from Albus Dumbledore. The old wizard looked taller than ever and even when Ron was not looking at his face he knew that it was surely an image to fear.

The pale-eyed man hesitated briefly, "It doesn't matter who I am old man, what matters is who I am going to bring back" Then the man took an old watch out from his pocket, "Oh Look it's my cue to go, a shame really. I had a lovely time thank you for your hospitality"

With that the man disappeared at once and the headmaster was left staring at thin air. Ron sighed heavily and fainted.

It felt like weeks had passed before he woke up. He had desperate nightmares but when he first opened his eyes he couldn't remember one single detail from them.

"oh my poor boy!" came the loud voice of his mother as she gave him a bone-breaking hug.

"Ouch! mum, you're hur-rting- me"

Molly Weasley stepped back at once and Ron got his first sight of the Hospital Wing, his brothers were there and so was his father. Ron noticed then the bandage on his left arm where he had been cut, it still hurt. "Oh sorry, how are you feeling?- I don't care what happens I don't want you to ever try something so risky ever again! are you listening to me?"

"Yeah mum, I'm fine"

Harry appeared from behind the twins waving and so did Hermione, her smile was wide and Ron felt a lot better after looking at them safe.

"We thought that if you really were like Percy then you wouldn't be getting in trouble" said Fred.

"Yeah it looks like you already had more fun than Percy the Prefect has had on his entire life" added George.

Ron's mother glared at the twins and Percy snorted but it was obvious that he had been worried too. Ron smiled. Ginny was nowhere around but he imagined that they had left her with some neighbour.

"What happened son?" asked his father, "The headmaster says that you three ended up facing an intruder, he said that he would give an explanation once that he knows all the facts. Your friends don't even want to talk about it until he says it is ok to do it." he said staring at them.

"Well neither of you should had gone to look for this- this man in the first place." Ron's mother frowned at Hermione and Harry as they lowered their sight. The redhead wondered how much did his family really knew.

"We're sorry Mrs Weasley" said Harry and Hermione nodded looking red.

"We didn't went looking for him though" said Ron.

"Then what happened?"

Before Ron could answer Professor Dumbledore came into the room followed by Madam Pomfrey, "That's the question, isn't it?" Harry, Hermione and all the Weasleys turned to the headmaster, "If it is possible I would like a private word with Mr Weasley now that he's awake"

"Albus he just woke up, I believe that he needs a rest"

"I am sure that you can allow a couple of minutes, specially when the situation is as delicate as this one" said Dumbledore.

The matron ended up agreeing and everyone exited the room, Ron's mother did it reluctantly and she reminded the headmaster that he had promised answers. Harry and Hermione gave him encouraging smiles. Ron became nervous when he realized that he was going to be left alone with the old wizard.

"How are you feeling Mr Weasley?"

"Fine, thank you. Only a little numb"

Professor Dumbledore gave him a weak smile and took a seat next to his bed, "Well that's expected when you have been on this bed for a whole day."

Ron nodded, "Err- that man... escaped?"

The headmaster's smile disappeared, "Yes I'm afraid so, he used a Portkey, are you familiar with the word?" when Ron nodded he continued, "I am sure that this man was helped by someone at the Portkey Office but the Ministry won't go deeper than a simple routine check. I believe that they won't find the responsible like that, these people are clearly smart, however I will keep looking at this later with my own means." he said frowning.

There was a brief pause then Professor Dumbledore continued softening his features, "I am really sorry that you had to go through this experience, I consider it a huge failure from my side even so I was told that you managed to defend yourself pretty well."

"Emm- I knew a few spells, you know from the library. Nothing powerful though, second year spells maybe, I thought that we were not going to make it"

"And still you did. Although what you have in your arm was not made by a normal severing charm, it will leave a mark, besides that I believe that you all made it in one piece. I also heard that you saved both of your classmates and recovered the Sorcerer's Stone, quite a feat for a first year"

Ron paid little attention to his arm, he was turning more nervous, if the headmaster hadn't suspect anything about him before this was surely the moment. "I didn't do it alone, the three of us did."

"Of course, of course" Dumbledore said but his blue eyes were still staring at him, analysing his words. He didn't believe him, that was a fact.

Soon Ron found himself telling the man his side of the story, he was pretty confident that it would match exactly with Harry's and Hermione's because he made some changes to it. He didn't mention any non-verbal spell for sure and the final part only involved him dodging curses as the the foreign man kept destroying chess pieces, he didn't think that it could convince the man but he hoped it would be enough for now.

Fortunately the old man didn't try to read his mind then, he must had believed him to some extend or maybe he thought that there was nothing he could get from it. After all Ron was still a first year on his eyes, no matter how many weird things happened around him the headmaster would have to convince himself that Ron was not what he seemed before he got more serious suspicions about him.

"Ehm, Professor?"

"Yes my boy"

"The man, he said that Professor Quirrell was helping-"

"Voldemort, yes I know." said the headmaster and Ron nodded without flinching, he wondered if the old man could notice that, "He is quite alive I'm afraid, this man whoever he is will keep trying to bring him back, that's why it is important that you tell me everything you know about him."

Ron said almost all what he knew, he didn't know much about the foreign man after all, even so he left the important part out. He didn't know if he should tell Dumbledore everything now but he needed to think it deeply before deciding, his head was still spinning after the confrontation.

It was then that the redhead found out that Quirrell had died the day before at St. Mungo's. Ron didn't know how to feel about it, he had made the effort to keep him alive but it didn't work out, at the end Voldemort had taken too much from him and separating him from his body was something that Quirrell couldn't take anymore. It was not an option but Ron couldn't stop thinking that if he hadn't face him at the forest then the man could still be alive.

This time the stone was going to be destroyed too, at least that part wasn't changed.

Ron was dismissed from the hospital the following day and then he was stormed by Hermione and Harry who wanted to know all about the chess board. Apparently they had tried to turn back and help him out but when they couldn't get pass the solid walls Hermione convinced Harry that the only thing to do was getting help, they had found Dumbledore before reaching the Devil's Snare.

From his part Harry told them everything about the mirror, he had reached the room alone and when he found the stone on his pocket he was confronted by the foreign man who had been hiding since Harry came into the room. It seemed like Dumbledore talked to each of them so it seemed like most of the information was still there, Harry now knew that Snape was innocent and little more about what happened to him the night he got the scar, it would be some time before he knew the whole truth though.

Ron wondered if he should tell him then, he dismissed the idea as soon as it got to him, he couldn't tell him about that if he didn't know Occlumancy and he couldn't convince him of learning Occlumancy without a lot of questions being asked and Dumbledore suspecting things. The redhead didn't know if he was prepared to tell Hermione the truth either, they were all way too young.

As the days passed Ron couldn't stop thinking about that foreign man, he didn't know anything about him, not even his name. The fact that he didn't let his secret out in front of Harry or Hermione was still confusing. He said he liked to act slowly so he had to be prepared, at least Dumbledore had raised wards around Hermione's home and Ron's father was doing the same with the Burrow. Some aurors were looking for this fugitive too but they didn't know anything that could help them catch him.

Professor Dumbledore spoke to Ron's parents the very day that Ron woke up, he didn't know what the headmaster told them but it was clear that it had shaken them up quite a bit. They were pretty nervous of a criminal on the loose that could want revenge against them but as time moved forward Ron was turning more convinced that the pale-eyed man would plan his next strike carefully. The redhead still blamed himself for not seeing him coming, if the foreign man had come back at the same point in time than he did then their luck would had turned out completely different.

"So it was really him- behind Professor Quirrell?" asked Hermione one day.

Harry shrugged, "That man said so but he could be lying, wasn't Voldemort dead?"

Hermione opened her eyes widely, "You shouldn't be saying his name!"

"Fear of a name increases the name of the thing itself, that's what Dumbledore said"

"It's just a name, it's not a big deal" added Ron. After a pause the redhead turned to Harry again, "I don't think that he's dead by the way"

"Dumbledore doesn't either"

"Does he think that he was really there?" asked Hermione, "With Professor Quirrell?"

"I believe so... what really troubles him is the attack on the forbidden forest. If that man wanted to help Quirrell he couldn't have done it, right?"

Hermione was puzzled by it but she as well as the headmaster didn't have a clue. When he first talked to him Dumbledore had asked if he knew anything more about the forest too but he hadn't said anything more.

A day before the last feast of the term Ron found himself walking alone towards Dumbledore's office, he stood a couple of hallways away though. He was sure that Dumbledore wouldn't try to erase his memories now but Ron still had trouble trusting the man. Besides there was nothing that Ron could tell him that would help him find the pale-eyed man, he knew nothing about him.

Ron remained there thinking for a few minutes and when a Hufflepuff prefect walking around asked him if everything was all right he decided to leave. He would think about it during the summer, if he needed Dumbledore he would talk to him once he returned for the second year. After all what happened second year was unavoidable.

The next day Dumbledore stood up in the middle of the feast to give extra points to Gryffindor again but this time those were not enough, Gryffindor was way down after the Norbert incident. Harry and Hermione got fifty points each and this time it was Ron who got sixty, the twins and Percy couldn't believe it. Neville didn't earn points and Ron wondered how much could that affect the boy, he would have like to have Neville by his side too.

Slytherin won the cup which meant that Malfoy and his whole house would be more annoying than usual for a lot of time to come. At least they got second place and with the points that Dumbledore gave them nobody would go hard on them for the points they lost before.

All the way on the Hogwarts Express Ron was serious. Things had changed a lot since he first fell on that time pool and he didn't know what was ahead of him specially with that man out there planning something. He wondered a lot about the second year, he couldn't think about going back now so as hard as it were he had to be prepared. Through his mind raced things like Aragog or the flying Ford Anglia or Dobby, he could change things now without feeling guilty but he didn't know which ones to change and which ones to keep, it was a big responsibility.

Even so by the end of the trip when he put his first step on the platform 9 3/4 and he saw ten-year old Ginny for the first time since he arrived Ron realized that he was at least sure of one thing. That diary was not going to reach her hands ever again, he was not going to allow it. The foreign man could know about the stone but Ron believed that Voldemort hadn't told anyone about his Horrcruxes.

At that thought Ron turned to Harry, he was looking quite happy, he hadn't faced Voldemort and now he had a book filled with pictures of his parents thanks to Hagrid. Ron wondered how much he had changed already, Harry needed to be the hero and maybe taking the spotlight from him could do more harm than good.

"There he is, Mum, there look! Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mom!-"

"Be quiet Ginny, it's rude to point."

Ron smiled, he couldn't believe what he was thinking but maybe before dealing with the foreign man and finding a way to his own time he would have to talk to Ginny, he didn't want to ever find Michael Corner or Dean Thomas snogging his sister. On the other hand he had to be hopeful and think that things would be solved before that.

Harry was going to the Burrow in the summer of course, Ron's mother had invited him personally when Ron was recovering at the Hospital Wing. Hermione was going to be away though and Ron would have to be strong to not storm her with owls every day.

After Ron and Hermione said their goodbyes to Harry and his friend told them that the Dursleys didn't know that he couldn't use Magic outside Hogwarts Ron was left alone with the bushy haired girl for the first time since the room with the dead troll.

"Do you think that Dumbledore is right, that they will find that man?" Hermione asked him.

"Dunno, hope so... but everything will be all right I promise"

They stood there for a while then Hermione extended her hand to shake Ron's, "Well, I'll see you after the summer and thanks by the way..."

"Thanks? about what?"

"Saving me down there- you were quite impressive, I-I- don't know how did you managed to use so many spells... and you got them all right!" she said blushing lightly.

"Err- It was not- I mean I had to... you... we're friends aren't we?" Ron mumbled.

"Yes absolutely," Hermione said smiling widely, "Maybe next year we can exchange spells, I'll teach you the one with the blue fire and few more- you can help me with those others"

"Of course, just don't go so hard on Harry with the subjects... and no Astronomy or History of Magic please..."

"We'll see"

And with that Hermione said bye and rushed after her parents, as Ron saw her leave he kept thinking that he didn't know how he was going to make it through the whole summer without her.

"Hey Ickle Ronnie, she's gone already come on we don't have all day!" yelled George.

Ron frowned, "Coming!" he said and rushed to them.

"Who's gone?" asked Ginny confused.

"That girl with the big hair, her name is Hermione, Ron fancies her" added Fred.

"I-I- don't!" Ron said reaching them but he was looking bright red.

"Whatever you say Ronnie, whatever you say"

It was going to feel like a calmed summer, way more than it was supposed to be. Whatever was going to happen he knew that the output of the war needed to be kept unchanged, many lives depended on that, maybe he could even save Fred. The future was cloudy indeed and Ron would eventually get his chance to prove himself against that foreign man again.

Ron followed his family to the Burrow holding a scar of his own now, it was on the wrong side but it felt like the exact same wound he got at the Time Room, a long cut on his left arm that he needed to pay back soon.

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><p><strong>Well, how about that, my first completed story. Hope that you liked it.<strong>

**I'll work on other stories for now once I start with the sequel for this I'll probably announce it on my profile page or put a note on this story somewhere. Thanks for the readings and reviews... lets see who gets the 50th review :P.**


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